Literary notes about flaw (AI summary)
The term "flaw" in literature is employed in multifaceted ways, ranging from the depiction of literal imperfections in objects to the portrayal of character defects or logical oversights. It can denote a physical blemish or defect, as when a gem is described as flawless or marred by a minor defect ([1], [2]), and it is equally used to critique logical constructs or argumentation where even a slight error is significant ([3], [4]). In poetic and dramatic narratives, a flaw may symbolize a critical failing in human nature or fate—for instance, an inherent defect in a hero’s character or in the design of a grand plan ([5], [6], [7]), while in everyday discourse it highlights a singular imperfection that can dramatically alter outcomes ([8], [9]). This versatile use underscores how a single word can encapsulate the vulnerability within beauty, reason, and human endeavor.
- There is one ruby of Burma, of two ruttees, without a flaw, and there is a balas-ruby, flawed, of two ruttees.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - A mile or so distant they reached another palace, equally wonderful, with no speck or flaw of any kind to mar its beauty.
— from Korean folk tales : by Pang Im and Yuk Yi - You can hardly find a flaw in the case which can now be presented against him, and all further investigation has served to strengthen it.
— from The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - You have formed some conclusion? Do you not see some loophole, some flaw?
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - An earthquake caus’d the flaw: the roaring tides
— from The Aeneid by Virgil - Wickedness, not a flaw of nature, i. 456 .
— from The City of God, Volume II by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - But his flaw’d heart, Alack, too weak the conflict to support!
— from The Tragedy of King Lear by William Shakespeare - I shall marry my man over again, now he's willing, as there was a little flaw in the first ceremony.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy - “But there is one little flaw in your splendid theory.
— from The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
