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Literary notes about strike (AI summary)

The term “strike” carries a remarkably diverse range of connotations across literary works. It is used literally to denote physical impact or violence, as when characters attack or inflict harm ([1], [2], [3]), while also alluding to divine intervention or cosmic force ([4], [5], [6]). Simultaneously, it functions metaphorically to capture sudden insight or dramatic shifts in mood and circumstance, such as an idea hitting one unexpectedly ([7], [8]). In other contexts, it animates scenes of action and resistance—from the call to protest in labor disputes ([9], [10]) to the stirring directives in epic battles and heroic quests. This versatility in usage enriches both narrative momentum and symbolic depth throughout literature.
  1. One of us held the iron drill in its place and another would strike with an eight-pound sledge—it was like driving nails on a large scale.
    — from Roughing It by Mark Twain
  2. As soon as the sage had said this, the King gave orders to strike off his head; and it was done.
    — from The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.
  3. He raises his dagger to strike the sleeper, who turns in his bed, and opens his broad chest as if for the blow.
    — from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  4. In Germany it was sacred to Thor, and he would not strike with his lightning a house protected by it.
    — from Demonology and Devil-lore by Moncure Daniel Conway
  5. Behold the Lord shall possess her, and shall strike her strength in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire. 9:5.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  6. For I will stretch forth my hand, and will strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst of them: after these he will let you go.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  7. In a trice may joy turn to sorrow, should one halt long enough over it: in a trice only God can say what ideas may strike one.
    — from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol
  8. As he thought of his aunt, an idea seemed to strike him.
    — from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
  9. All this was in June; and before long the question was submitted to a referendum in the unions, and the decision was for a strike.
    — from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
  10. The great strike was over, the strikers beaten.
    — from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

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