Literary notes about aversion (AI summary)
The word aversion in literature is often employed to evoke a profound, instinctual repugnance that can be as personal as it is symbolic. It is used to describe everything from a straightforward dislike—such as one character’s unconquerable aversion to learning Greek [1]—to the more complicated emotional and moral rejections present in social relationships and ideologies [2]. At times, aversion appears as a palpable, almost physical reaction, reflecting not only inner turmoil but also a broader commentary on human nature; one character’s avoidance of painful memories or figures illustrates this multifaceted response [3, 4]. Equally, some authors extend the concept of aversion to critique cultural or political constructs, suggesting that the sentiment itself can drive the rejection of outdated practices or imposed hierarchies [5, 6]. In these varied applications, aversion serves as a literary tool that deepens character development and emphasizes the tension between personal experience and societal expectation.
- At school I had an unconquerable aversion for the Greek language, so that I had to leave when I was in the fourth class.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - And what if there can be no respect either, if on the contrary there is aversion, contempt, repulsion, what then?
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - She had called him “Stiva,” and he glanced at her with gratitude, and moved to take her hand, but she drew back from him with aversion.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - Never once in their dialogues did I hear a syllable of regret at the hospitality they had extended to me, or of suspicion of, or aversion to, myself.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - To such a deity warlike men should entertain no aversion, but they should honour him as being always the best friend of man.
— from Laws by Plato - His harebrained manner rendered him insupportable to me, and my coldness drew upon me his aversion.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau