Literary notes about keeper (AI summary)
In literature, "keeper" is employed in a multitude of ways that underscore themes of guardianship, responsibility, and control. It often designates a protector or custodian—whether it’s the box-keeper who fetches a character from confinement [1], the door-keeper who regulates entry [2, 3], or figures like the hotel-keeper and inn-keeper who ensure order in their domains [4, 5]. At times, the term takes on a metaphorical weight, as seen in the moral inquiry, "Am I my brother's keeper?" [6], suggesting both personal duty and ethical responsibility. Additionally, its use in various professional contexts—from the stable keeper to the book-keeper—accentuates its versatility, marking not only physical boundaries but also serving as a symbol for custodianship and authority throughout literary history.
- all around them and the whole house was beginning to protest, when the box-keeper came to fetch me.
— from The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux - Then said the Keeper of the gate, "Who is there?"
— from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Every Child Can Read by John Bunyan - In the midst of this the door-keeper came in, advising me not to travel by night, but to go to Avignon by a boat in which I could ship my carriage.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - The inn-keeper understood at once, looking sharply into Mitya's face.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - She was a little girl when she was captured and sold to the keeper of a large hotel.
— from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Harriet A. Jacobs - And he answered: I know not: am I my brother's keeper? 4:10.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
