Literary notes about prevent (AI summary)
In literature, the word "prevent" serves as a versatile tool to indicate the act of stopping or hindering events, actions, or outcomes. It is employed in contexts ranging from the tangible—such as charms used to prevent wild boars from damaging crops [1] or mechanisms designed to prevent fire [2]—to the more abstract or moral, as when characters struggle to prevent personal failings or societal evils [3], [4]. Authors use it to set limits, create tension, and underscore the inevitability or challenge of certain events, as seen when measures are taken to prevent dangerous conflicts [5], prevent misunderstandings [6], or even prevent one's own actions in moments of introspection [7]. This varied usage highlights both the practical and symbolic roles that prevention plays in shaping narrative and thematic outcomes across genres.
- [lxxxiv] Charm to prevent Wild Boars from damaging Crops [p. 188 .
— from Malay Magic by Walter William Skeat - All the morning clearing our cellars, and breaking in pieces all my old lumber, to make room, and to prevent fire.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys - The man who having the power to prevent or punish sin doth not do so knowing that a sin hath been committed, is himself defiled by that sin.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - But I am not afraid of her having made a bad use of them: of this I do not think her capable; and besides I had taken proper measures to prevent it.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - This will prevent all conflagrations for the future.
— from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - But to prevent this inference, we need only weigh the three following considerations.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - She could scarcely prevent her voice from trembling.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser
