Literary notes about pitiless (AI summary)
Writers often deploy "pitiless" to evoke a sense of unyielding severity—whether it’s the unrelenting forces of fate, nature, or human character. In some works the term underscores the bitter cruelty of existence, as when tragic birth is described with "long pitiless pains" [1] or when the relentless light of calamity casts a stark and fatal glare [2]. At the same time, authors use it to characterize individuals or institutions as cold and unfeeling, be it a judge whose eyes seem to pierce every soul [3] or a tyrannical enemy whose approach leaves no hint of compassion [4]. Overall, "pitiless" functions as a powerful literary device that magnifies both the indifferent forces of the world and the hard-heartedness found among men.
- Twas all In vain, then, that I reared you up, so tall And fair; in vain I bore you, and was torn With those long pitiless pains, when you were born.
— from Medea of Euripides by Euripides - The whole tragedy was suddenly unfolded before us, concentrated, in bold relief, in a fatal and pitiless light.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - His eyes, like those of a pitiless judge, seemed to go to the very bottom of all questions, to read all natures, all feelings and thoughts.
— from Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac - Instead of meeting friends on board the approaching ship, we could only expect pitiless enemies.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne
