People · 1881
Take hope from the heart of man and you make him a beast of prey.
— Ouida · A Village Commune
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The passage presents hope as a restraint against predatory behaviour. Removing it is imagined as turning a person into a beast of prey. The force of the comparison lies in that drastic transformation, treating despair as a threat to how people act toward others.
Context reviewed