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Literary notes about tired (AI summary)

The term "tired" in literature functions both as a literal descriptor of physical exhaustion and as a metaphor for emotional or psychological weariness. Authors use it to paint vivid images of characters drained by long journeys or strenuous activities, as seen when weariness marks the end of a long day’s work [1, 2, 3, 4] or when fatigue overtakes one after extended exertion [5]. At the same time, "tired" signals a deeper sense of discontent or irritation with circumstances that have worn down a character’s resolve or enthusiasm, whether it be the monotony of an oppressive environment [6, 7, 8] or the gradual alienation felt in interpersonal relationships [9, 10, 11]. This dual usage—the physical and the metaphorical—allows writers to add layers of meaning to their characters, underscoring not only the toll of daily life as in moments of quiet vulnerability [12, 13] but also the broader themes of disillusionment and resilience that recur through narrative progressions [14, 15].
  1. When the boys got home again they were very tired and hungry and asked their mother for something to eat.
    — from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney
  2. He was tired for many days after that, and the settle seemed hard and uncomfortable in spite of all the pillows and bolsters and soft folded rugs.
    — from The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
  3. To my Lord’s again and so home with my wife, tired with this day’s work.
    — from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys
  4. I found myself on board again at half-past seven o'clock, very dirty, very tired, very hungry and very thirsty.
    — from A Diplomat in Japan by Ernest Mason Satow
  5. Tired from what had gone before, and tired in anticipation of what was to follow, K. stood up to receive the first of them.
    — from The Trial by Franz Kafka
  6. He is quite mad, and I am tired of Lahore city.
    — from Kim by Rudyard Kipling
  7. The Tarentini did not as yet openly avow their allegiance to the Romans, but secretly they were getting tired of the Carthaginians.
    — from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 by Cassius Dio Cocceianus
  8. People had grown tired of saying that the 'Disunion' was on its last legs.
    — from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. by John Galsworthy
  9. "I'm not poor," Mary told her, "but I'm tired, dead tired, and my head aches dreadfully, and if you want Mills you can have him."
    — from The Gay Cockade by Temple Bailey
  10. ‘I’m tired of running, and the ground is dewy: I can’t sit here.
    — from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
  11. "You are not going away because you are tired of me?
    — from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
  12. "I noticed you were too tired to talk tonight.
    — from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery
  13. Sit down, dear boy, you must be tired; I see you are.
    — from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  14. She seemed to be tired of my questions: and, indeed, what claim had I to importune her?
    — from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë
  15. Fie, fie on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and all foul ways!
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

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