Literary notes about fault (AI summary)
Writers use the word "fault" in many varied ways to reveal character, assign responsibility, or symbolize moral or systemic shortcomings. In some instances, it denotes a lack of error or defect, suggesting an inherent perfection or innocence as when one "could find no fault" in a character [1]. In other contexts, it serves as an admission of personal blame—as in a confession that "it is my fault"—or becomes a subtle critique of human and social frailties [2, 3]. Sometimes, the term emphasizes misattributed blame: a character might be unfairly held responsible for circumstances beyond their control [4, 5], while in more philosophical works it even morphs into a metaphor for larger, systemic errors of judgment [6, 7]. Thus, "fault" operates on multiple levels in literature, capturing everything from personal regret to criticisms of societal constructs.
- They could find no fault with him anywhere.
— from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain - It is my fault; I ought to be more open.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - No, nothing will induce him to come back now!” he cried again, regretfully realizing it; “but it's my fault, my fault.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - How easy it is for him to wound, to insult a poor, defenceless girl, whose only fault is that she loves him!
— from White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - He had only one fault, he used to smoke. . . .”
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - The chief fault in Napoleon as a statesman was intrinsically a virtue, viz., his good nature.
— from Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 by Emperor of the French Napoleon I - For himself he was clear that the fault lay in the system, which could lead only to inertia.
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
