Prufrock 'And Something Whispered In The Shakuhachi'

The Setting in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “Something Whispered in the Shakuhachi”- An Emotional Complex of Prufrock and Hongo “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” featuring the delusion of a lonely urban man by T.S Eliot may seem to greatly differ from “Something Whispered in the Shakuhachi” by Garrett Hongo, which portrays the sentimental confession of a Japanese immigrant, at first glance. While Eliot uses series of imagined events to illustrate “time” and uses his emotions to create an abstract setting, Hongo uses a specific historic background to present “time” and uses realistic incidents to depict an actual physical setting. The two readings however, have both made use of one’s reaction to scenes to describe

There is however no specificity of “time” in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. Through the repetitions of “…there will be time…” in the monologues and the imagined moments of him being with his love, “…you and I…the evening is spread out…”(line 1-2) and “…the evenings, mornings, afternoons…”(line 51), “time” seems to travel back and forth but is in fact stuck in one period right when he hallucinates. And so he has “inserted” numerous hallucinated incidents to shape the “time” while Hongo presents “time” with a progression along the time line of World War 2. Another difference is that “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” uses the emotions of the poet to create an abstract setting while “Something Whispered in the Shakuhachi” uses a reality to present its setting. The romantic sceneries created, “…some talk of you and me…”(line 89) and “…the sunsets…novels…teacups…”(line 101), plus the imaginary characters added in the poem such as the woman he dreamt of visiting the city with(line 1), are derived from his strong yearning of love and intimacy. The dreary surroundings of the city, “…narrow streets…watched the smoke that rises…lonely men in shirt sleeves…”(line 70), together with the singing mermaids, are created to reflect and protrude his loneliness. Hongo on the other hand, presents readers a setting based on reality. He has used a historical background(World War 2), vivid descriptions of his farm saying “…land…which was barren…”(line 45)

The fact that he needs to sneak water from the whites and his sad reminiscence of his flutes while being put in a desert through the Relocation Camp, illustrate both the miserable living condition of immigrants and the social oppression given to them during the war period(line 19). Thus, Eliot and Hongo have effectively brought out the social environment through narrators’ reactions to scenes. Regardless of Eliot and Hongo’s presentation, the settings in both readings have exerted a traumatic influence on the narrators. The setting in “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” is at the same time a reason that leads to Prufrock’s inferiority and a platform that reflects his frustrations. The harsh social atmosphere filled with critics “…how his hair is growing thin…”(line 40) has made Prufrock embarrassed at his own appearance and he feels being placed in a lower status saying “…not Prince Hamlet…attendant lord…an easy tool….”(lines 111-114). He feels unappealing and mourns “I do not think that they will sing to me” and lacks self worthiness(line 125). Because of the cold interaction of people, he fears being rejected so he keeps delaying his confession of love by repeating “There will be time…” (line 26). The setting(a typical gloomy British city)has also enabled him to make use of its elements to vent his emotions. He has used its foggy weather to express his desperation towards a