Literary notes about apprentice (AI summary)
In literature, the term "apprentice" is frequently used to represent a state of learning and transition, marking a period where one is bound to a master in both a literal and metaphorical sense. Characters designated as apprentices often embody the journey from inexperience to expertise—a binding engagement in a trade or a ritualistic progression within a structured organization. For instance, a young person bound to a trade or a more established practitioner appears in narratives where apprenticeship is both an obligation and a stepping stone to mastery [1, 2, 3]. In other works, the role of the apprentice is extended into symbolic realms, as when apprenticeship signifies the beginning of one’s evolution within social or professional hierarchies, as seen in factions following established systems [4, 5, 6]. This diverse usage highlights apprenticeship as a fertile literary device for exploring themes of growth, duty, and the transformative nature of education.
- “Now, Joseph Gargery, I am the bearer of an offer to relieve you of this young fellow your apprentice.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - he was bound an apprentice, according to the statute, to Sir Thomas Booby, an uncle of Mr Booby's by the father's side.
— from Joseph Andrews, Vol. 1 by Henry Fielding - “You are only an apprentice; you don't know your trade.
— from The Mysterious Stranger, and Other Stories by Mark Twain - No man would become an Apprentice unless he expected, in time, to be made a Fellow Craft, and then a Master.
— from The Principles of Masonic Law by Albert Gallatin Mackey - S.R., an Entered Apprentice, having applied for advancement, was duly elected to take the second degree; and Bro.
— from The Principles of Masonic Law by Albert Gallatin Mackey - The reply was in the affirmative, and the apprentice told his master the circumstances under which he gained the rapid mastership of his trade.’
— from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans-Wentz
