Literary notes about perpetrator (AI summary)
Literary authors deploy the term "perpetrator" to pinpoint the individual responsible for an act of wrongdoing, while also imbuing narratives with a sense of moral tension and mystery. Writers use it both in straightforward contexts—such as identifying a criminal on the loose ([1], [2]) or marking the moment of guilt in one's internal conscience ([3], [4])—and as a multifaceted symbol that can evoke broader themes of justice, inevitability, or even moral complexity. In some works, the word is affiliated with legal and philosophical discourse, reinforced by glossaries that list it alongside similar terms ([5], [6]), while in others it underscores a character’s descent or the dark undercurrents of human behavior ([7], [8]).
- The perpetrator of the violence is at large.
— from The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 3 of 4 by American Anti-Slavery Society - The actual perpetrator seems to have been led by the hand to the spot, and then abandoned hurriedly to his own devices.
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad - I myself have thought of him as the possible perpetrator of the crime, but have 120 been almost ashamed to harbor such a thought.
— from Phoebe Daring: A Story for Young Folk by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum - O fie on me who am vicious-minded, shameless and the perpetrator of a mighty iniquity.
— from The Rāmāyana, Volume Two. Āranya, Kishkindhā, and Sundara Kāndam by Valmiki - accused, defendant, prisoner, perpetrator, panel, respondent; litigant.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - N. doer, actor, agent, performer, perpetrator, operator; executor, executrix; practitioner, worker, stager.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - This was the crown of Sophia’s career as a perpetrator of the unutterable.
— from The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett - But, to my mind, when friend cheats friend, a deeper stain attaches to the perpetrator than to the victim of deceit.
— from Anabasis by Xenophon
