Another well - known first line is 'Call me Ishmael' from 'Moby - Dick' by Herman Melville. It's a simple yet engaging start, making the reader curious about who Ishmael is and what his story will be.
Another example is 'Call Me Ishmael' from 'Moby - Dick' by Herman Melville. This simple yet powerful first line draws the reader into the story of Ishmael's adventures on the whaling ship. It gives a sense of mystery and makes you wonder who Ishmael is and what his story will be about.
One of the most famous is 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' from 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens. This line immediately sets a tone of contrast and complexity.
A great first line is from 'Hills Like White Elephants' by Ernest Hemingway: 'The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun.' Hemingway's concise description gives a sense of the setting, which is important as the story unfolds in this sparse landscape.
Famous first lines often introduce key themes. Consider '1984' starting with 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' This odd time - keeping immediately hints at the dystopian world where things are not as they should be, introducing the theme of a disrupted and controlled society.
In 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens, it starts with 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...' This line sets the stage for the complex and contrasting world that the story unfolds in. It gives a sense of the duality and turmoil that the characters will experience during the French Revolution era which is the backdrop of the novel.
From 'The Great Gatsby', Gatsby says 'He looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by a man.' This line captures the essence of Gatsby's love for Daisy. His love is shown through his adoring gaze, which is a common yet powerful way to express love in literature. It also implies the intensity of his feelings and his idealization of Daisy.
One of the most famous lines is 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' from Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. This line sets the stage for the story's exploration of marriage and social status in 19th - century England.
One of the memorable lines is 'Love is not about possession but about liberation'. This line shows a very profound understanding of love. It goes against the common view of love as a form of ownership and instead promotes the idea of freeing the loved one to be their true selves.
In 'Pride and Prejudice', the first line 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' is well - known. This line not only reveals the social context of the time, where marriage was often a matter of financial and social status, but also gives a peek into the themes of the novel regarding relationships and social expectations.