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Literary notes about grope (AI summary)

In literature, "grope" often serves as a multifaceted metaphor, evoking both the literal act of feeling one's way through darkness and the figurative struggle for clarity in uncertainty. At times it describes physical navigation through a pitch-black environment—characters reaching out blindly for a door or a handhold, as when a doctor in a dark room or a traveler on a dim stairway must find their path ([1], [2]). In other instances, it symbolizes the internal quest for understanding or moral guidance, implying a tentative, sometimes frustrating search for truth or meaning, much like the cautious exploration of new ideas or forbidden realms of thought ([3], [4], [5], [6]). This usage enriches the narrative by linking the tangible lack of light to the more abstract absence of certainty, encouraging both characters and readers to consider how one might find direction amidst profound obscurity.
  1. The room was then pitch dark, and the doctor had to grope his way to his cabinet.
    — from There is No Death by Florence Marryat
  2. The night was yet young, but the staircases were in darkness and we had to grope our way.
    — from The ArgosyVol. 51, No. 6, June, 1891 by Various
  3. Hitherto we have had to grope our way with difficulty and care; but from this date onwards all ambiguity and uncertainty disappears.
    — from The Gospels in the Second CenturyAn Examination of the Critical Part of a Work Entitled 'Supernatural Religion' by W. (William) Sanday
  4. The Lord has devised this temptation as a test of my soul and I will grope my way out of darkness into the light of righteousness."
    — from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson
  5. With the instincts of old loves and old admiration we grope about in a realm of values, and we almost believe, "that is good which pleases us"....
    — from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche
  6. It is ever thus with me, so hard to know which is the strongest duty, the one that ought to be done first, and so I grope on in the dark.
    — from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper

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