Literary notes about null (AI summary)
The term “null” in literature is remarkably versatile, functioning both as a marker of legal invalidity and as a metaphor for emptiness or absence. In judicial or formal contexts, it emerges decisively in phrases like “null and void” to convey that a document, law, or agreement has been rendered ineffective ([1], [2], [3]). At the same time, authors employ “null” in a more nuanced stylistic sense to evoke a character’s emotional vacuity or the emptiness of an idea, as when a figure is described with an “icily regular, splendidly null” demeanor ([4], [5]). Even in less conventional uses, the word can serve as a proper name or as a subtle commentary on the futility of certain actions ([6]), illustrating its rich adaptability in both legal and literary discourses.
- “As I was about to proceed, Monsieur Poirot, that document is now null and void.” “ Hein! ” said Poirot.
— from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - But in that case would not his resurrection three days later, have rendered it null and void?
— from A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament by William Greenfield - He held a court at Dunstable, and declared that Henry’s marriage with Catherine was null and void.
— from Outlines of English History from B.C. 55 to A.D. 1895 Arranged in Chronological Order by John Charles Curtis - Jo sat as if blandly unconscious of it all, with deportment like Maud's face, 'icily regular, splendidly null'.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - The voice was icily regular, splendidly null.
— from The Story of a Doctor's Telephone—Told by His Wife by Ellen M. Firebaugh - I will have a little party of young folks in honor of Mrs Null.
— from The Late Mrs. Null by Frank Richard Stockton
