Literary notes about clueless (AI summary)
The word "clueless" in literature often serves to characterize characters or institutions as lacking understanding or being out of touch with reality. In some narratives, it paints figures as naive or helpless—illustrated by depictions of victims caught in precarious power dynamics [1] and even in portraying inexperienced individuals navigating new environments [2]. In other contexts, the term critiques the media or establishment by stressing their inability to grasp underlying issues [3, 4]. Moreover, "clueless" frequently appears in mysterious or suspenseful scenarios to convey the bewilderment inherent in complex labyrinths of circumstances [5, 6, 7]. The usage further extends to critiquing social roles and subcultures, ranging from a dismissive view of online communities [8, 9] to ironic commentary on authority figures [10].
- For their tormentors are often as talented as Mr. Ripley is and they are as helpless and as clueless as his victims are.
— from Moral Deliberations in Modern Cinema by Samuel Vaknin - Five years ago, I was the most clueless newbie ever to try volunteering for PG.
— from The Project Gutenberg FAQ 2002 by Jim Tinsley - 12 To make things worse, the press was—in 1995, at least—clueless about these issues.
— from The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by James Boyle - The old stereotype, in which all members of the major media are clueless, just doesn’t fly any more.
— from NetWorld! What People Are Really Doing on the Internet and What It Means to You by David H. Rothman - The murder seems to be one of these clueless mysteries which are the most difficult for the police to unravel."
— from The Hemlock Avenue Mystery by Lily A. (Lily Augusta) Long - He was fumbling his way along this clueless labyrinth of suppositions when the clock struck twelve.
— from Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley - Many minds, endeavoring to think through the mystifying problems of God's providence, find themselves in a clueless labyrinth.
— from The Meaning of Faith by Harry Emerson Fosdick - Entertainment and culture are taking off in a major way in cyberspace just when clueless Snubbites are deriding the Net as artless.
— from NetWorld! What People Are Really Doing on the Internet and What It Means to You by David H. Rothman - While the clueless are arguing over whether the Net has value, people like John Schwartz already know it does.
— from NetWorld! What People Are Really Doing on the Internet and What It Means to You by David H. Rothman - I know just such a clueless person, and his name is Fred Benson, one of three vice-principals at Cesar Chavez.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
