Literary notes about occupied (AI summary)
The term "occupied" functions in literature as a multifaceted descriptor, applying to both physical spaces and the realm of thought. In historical and military narratives, it is used to denote control or settlement of territories, as when territories are held by armies or influential figures [1, 2, 3, 4]. Conversely, within domestic or personal contexts, it signifies the act of taking up space—a room, a seat, or even an entire dwelling—thus physically denoting possession or use [5, 6, 7]. Moreover, the word extends into the abstract by expressing a state of intense preoccupation, where a character’s mind is fully engaged with an idea, emotion, or memory [8, 9, 10]. This dual capacity to describe both external occupation and internal engagement allows writers to explore themes of control, presence, and distraction in a richly layered manner.
- On learning this fact General Taylor transferred our camps to the south or west bank of the river, and Matamoras was occupied.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant - The French had not yet occupied that region, and the Russians—the uninjured and slightly wounded—had left it long ago.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - It’s too late now when Vienna is occupied by the French army!”
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - In the space of four years, the harbor and fortifications of Alexandria were twice occupied by a fleet and army of Romans.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - “I first went through the kitchen, then two rooms occupied by this man and his wife.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - I slept that night in the room that Johnston was said to have occupied the night before.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant - Holmes brushed him aside without a word and, followed by all of us, rushed into the room which had been occupied by the man whom we had been watching.
— from The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle - The Nun who bore the heart occupied him entirely.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. Lewis - I looked out of the window for a little while, and occupied myself with the plants.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - As he fell asleep he had still been thinking of the subject that now always occupied his mind—about life and death, and chiefly about death.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy
