Literary notes about panic (AI summary)
In literature, the word “panic” is deployed to evoke sudden, overwhelming disorder both in the heart of an individual and across entire communities. It serves as a metaphor for personal crisis—as when a character experiences internal disarray due to intense attachment or fear [1]—and as a symbol for widespread societal collapse, seen in narratives where the collective dread of impending disaster takes hold [2, 3]. Authors use the term to capture a volatile state that can paralyze a single mind or wreak havoc on a battlefield, transforming measured calm into frenetic uproar [4, 5, 6]. Whether describing a fleeting moment of personal terror or the contagious hysteria of a crowd, texts from classic epics to modern novels reveal panic’s capacity to disrupt order, hinting at deeper fears that underlie human behavior [7, 8].
- “Blum, you are so devoted to me and so anxious to serve me that I am always in a panic when I look at you.”
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - and I detected the wavering in the crowd which is premonitory of panic.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain - When the deposits were removed and a panic threatened he declared himself a Whig.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - An awful panic spread through the whole building.
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad - The standards of those who had been left behind on guard, advancing from the camp, further increase the panic.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - “And I have confidence in myself when you are leaning on me,” he said, but was at once panic-stricken at what he had said, and blushed.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - " As he spoke he gave orders to yoke his horses Panic and Rout, while he put on his armour.
— from The Iliad by Homer - I ought to have patted him, but I could not get Faust’s dog out of my head, and the feeling of panic grew more and more acute...
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
