Literary notes about stick (AI summary)
Writers employ the term stick in a variety of ways, ranging from its literal sense as a tangible object to a metaphor for steadfastness or restraint. In some works, the word denotes a physical item—a branch emerging from the earth [1], a tool for discipline or defense [2], or even a walking aid that symbolizes vulnerability or stability [3], [4]. At the same time, authors also use stick to evoke the notion of persistence or adherence, as characters resolve to stick to a task or belief regardless of obstacles [5], [6]. In yet other instances, the term enriches an image by marking boundaries or connecting disparate elements, lending both a functional and symbolic dimension to the narrative [7], [8].
- I skip and run—and I look about to see if things are beginning to stick up out of the earth.
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - ‘Who are you, you rascal?’ said the captain, administering several pokes to Mr. Pickwick’s body with the thick stick.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - When I did look up I saw Arthur standing in the doorway laughing, with a stick in his hand.
— from A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle - The staff, though it was but a plain oaken stick, immediately took the aspect of a gold-headed cane.
— from Mosses from an old manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne - And so, solely from a sense of duty and my social position, I was forced to suppress the good moment and to stick to my nasty task.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I shall stick to ethnological investigations henceforwards.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - When the procession arrives at the house, entrance into the marriage booth is prevented by a stick held across it by people of the bride’s village.
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston - Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain
