Literary notes about gullible (AI summary)
In literature, "gullible" is often employed to highlight characters’ naïveté and vulnerability, casting them as easily duped or overly trusting. Authors use the term both critically and humorously to underscore the susceptibility of individuals and even entire groups to deception or exaggeration. For instance, the term is applied to public figures caught up in mass delusions [1] and to characters who unwittingly fall prey to trickery and scams [2]. At times, it is used with a satirical tone to lampoon the credulous nature of society, as seen when a writer describes a publisher and his audience as unreasonably pliant [3], or to suggest that even authority figures might sometimes feign naivety [4].
- He knows the weakness of the public, and how gullible it is.
— from Profitable Stock Exchange Investments by Henry Voorce Brandenburg & Co. - Our reporters must learn how these mediums do their tricks, and expose them to the gullible public.”
— from Clue of the Silken Ladder by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt - GULLIVER, a Munchausen-Doctor Cook-Peary traveler who never submitted his proofs, but who found a credulous publisher and a gullible public.
— from Who Was Who: 5000 B. C. to Date Biographical Dictionary of the Famous and Those Who Wanted to Be - Then there are the cops, who are pretending to be gullible kids so they can bust the pervs.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
