Literary notes about doomed (AI summary)
The word doomed functions as a striking shorthand for fate across a wide spectrum of literary works. It often connotes an inevitable, sometimes predestined, downfall—whether it’s an individual condemned by divine wrath or an entire endeavor set for collapse. In epic narratives, doomed signifies characters whose tragic fates are sealed by forces beyond their control ([1], [2]), while in more modern works it can denote failures that are so foreseeable, even the best of efforts cannot avert them ([3], [4]). In some contexts, its usage extends beyond mortality to indicate broader ruin, whether personal, societal, or even systemic—as when institutions or ideologies are depicted as doomed from inception ([5], [6]). Overall, doomed is employed to evoke a mood of inexorable despair and to heighten the tension between human ambition and the relentless grip of destiny.
- Yet, though I may crime have perpetrated, I will nathless guard my life against such as thou art; unless I death-doomed am.
— from The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson by Sæmundur fróði - But Pushkara, O king, proclaimed through the city that he that should show any attention to Nala, would be doomed to death.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - Otherwise the effort was doomed to failure.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - He stood still looking at these recumbent bodies, a doomed man aware of his fate, surveying the silent company of the dead.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - He saw Capitalism doomed in its cradle, born with the poison of the principle of competition in its system.
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad - It is doomed to wander through the world—oh, woe is me!—and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!”
— from A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens
