Literary notes about hook (AI summary)
The term "hook" emerges in literature with a rich multiplicity of meanings. In some texts it denotes a literal implement—a tool for catching fish or fastening objects, as seen when a man hangs from a hook [1] or when a boat-hook clinches chains [2], and is even noted in technical contexts regarding surgical instruments [3], [4]. At the same time, the word carries symbolic weight, serving as a character’s name in iconic narratives [5], [6], [7], where it evokes menace and a storied legacy, while also featuring in idiomatic expressions such as “by hook or by crook” to denote determination [8]. Moreover, its use extends to metaphorical imagery—describing objects or actions with suggestive, evocative language [9], [10]—thereby underscoring the term’s versatility and layered connotations within literary works.
- As he dangled from the hook it was exaggerated and intensified until he was scarce human in his appearance.
— from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - A few keen pulls, and his boat-hook soon clinched the Pequod’s main-chains, and he sprang to the deck.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - Then to some part of it fix on a traction hook and make traction, and the legs becoming straightened out we get it away.’
— from Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times by John Stewart Milne - Thus very few of the probes are simple instruments but carry a spatula, a scoop or spoon, an eye, or a hook, at the opposite end.
— from Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times by John Stewart Milne - 'So, Pan,' said Hook at last, 'this is all your doing.'
— from Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie - “He has an iron hook instead of a right hand, and he claws with it.”
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - “So, Pan,” said Hook at last, “this is all your doing.”
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - Well, by hook or by crook, we must have something out of you.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais - She saw the pale dress of the woman outspread and her folded parasol, lying on the grass like a huge pearl crochet hook.
— from Bliss, and other stories by Katherine Mansfield - When I was younger, I had had a general belief that if he had jiggered me personally, he would have done it with a sharp and twisted hook.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
