Literary notes about boy (AI summary)
Literature uses the word “boy” in a variety of ways to evoke youth, innocence, and the passage from childhood to a more complex adulthood. It can serve as a marker of formative experience and personal adventure, as when a young protagonist recalls neighborhood excursions or early exploits ([1], [2]), while in other contexts it becomes a term of both endearment and reproach—a familiar address from an elder or mentor that captures both affection and a hint of condescension ([3], [4], [5]). The word also functions symbolically, representing not only the physical state of being young but also a stage of learning, growth, and sometimes vulnerability, as seen when a community’s future is pinned on the promise or misfortune of its youth ([6], [7], [8]). In historical narratives and folklore, “boy” frequently anchors tales of heroism or tragic loss, evoking a nostalgia for simpler times or underscoring social hierarchies and personal transformations ([9], [10], [11]). This multifaceted usage enriches the narrative texture of literary works by resonating with the universal allure of youth and the inevitable complexities it both brings and overcomes ([12], [13], [14]).
- As a boy I used to make frequent excursions in the neighborhood of the Professor's house.
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne - Oh, the days when I was young, A playful little boy, When my piping treble rung To the notes of early joy.
— from Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie - "But you perceive, my boy, that it is not so, and that facts, as usual, are very stubborn things, overruling all theories."
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne - I'm going to make an animal of you, my boy!"
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - ‘Hush!’ said Mr. Jingle, in a stage-whisper—‘Large boy—dumpling face—round eyes—rascal!’
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - They came in voluntarily and were shot, as has been already narrated, one only, a mere boy, being spared on account of his youth.
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney - He is alone in the midst of human society, he depends on himself alone, for he is all that a boy can be at his age.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The king, a mere boy, sat in his box in the middle of the theatre, surrounded by his courtiers, richly but tastefully dressed.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - Once, when he was a little boy, grandpapa had gone with his parents to see this festivity.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. Andersen - She wanted to stay in the mysterious hidden-away room and talk to the mysterious boy.
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - In summer (A.D. 995) Asta, Gudbrand's daughter, was confined, and had a boy child, who had water poured over him, and was called Olaf.
— from Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson - My heart bleed for that poor boy—that dear boy, so of the age of mine own boy had I been so blessed that he live, and with his hair and eyes the same.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker - I am yet a boy, and it is only within two months I learned to write Angrezi.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - Is it worth it?” exclaimed the boy in his grief.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky