The Relevance of Prufrock in the Life of the Modern College Student
Many Young people in my generation are not sure what they want to do with their lives. They view leaving home and meeting new people as a horrible undertaking. They stress about every detail of their lives and act like if they mess up one small detail then the entirety of their lives will be over. In a way, they can relate to T. S. Elliot’s poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The narrator, Prufrock, stresses over every little decision he makes. Some may say he stresses over fear of rejection, the way he looks or some say he may just be blatantly indecisive. Throughout the poem, Prufrock talks about how he does not want to go down to the party because he is worried about
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He comes close to making a decision but never really does. He says he will have time to think about it later, but by the time he comes close to making a decision, the party is over. He let a good opportunity pass him by because he could not make up his mind. College students may be able to understand why Prufrock did not want to attend the party. Many college students go through the same process when they are picking a college. Students will ask around and find out who is going to what school and if a person they like is going to a school they like, they may try to go there so they are closer to a person they know. Prufrock wanted to stay in his personal comfort zone at the party. In the poem, Prufrock uses symbolism to help the reader understand him more. Elliot’s Prufrock is popular among young people because …show more content…
The only thing these individuals notice is what a person looks like. In many cases, they will automatically assume something about an individual if it is untrue. Today’s generation proves to be the most narcissistic generation so far. With individuals taking at least five pictures of themselves a day, it promotes a very vain perspective like Prufrock. The main concern of many adults and teenagers is their appearance. They stress themselves out about the way they look and worry about what others will think of them if they do not look absolutely perfect. If a young person from this generation and Prufrock both went into a party at the same time, they would most likely have the same concerns and the same views about other people and
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is about a timid and downcast man in search of meaning, of love, and in search of something to break from the dullness and superficiality which he feels his life to be. Eliot lets us into Prufrock's world for an evening, and traces his progression of emotion from timidity, and, ultimately, to despair of life. He searches for meaning and acceptance by the love of a woman, but falls miserably because of his lack of self-assurance. Prufrock is a man for whom, it seems, everything goes wrong, and for whom there are no happy allowances. The emptiness and shallowness of Prufrock's "universe" and of Prufrock himself are evident from the very beginning of the poem. He cannot find it in himself to tell the woman what he really feels, and when he tries to tell her, it comes out in a mess. At the end of the poem, he realizes that he has no big role in life.
In the poem, “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock”, the author, T.S. Eliot, uses diction and tone to give the poem life, and to make the character seem as anything but mere fiction. Eliot’s use of diction shows that you should not put things off until later in life because in a flash, you may be nearing the end of your journey of life and lose all opportunity to make yourself happy with the decisions you’ve made over the years. . “ In a minute there is time/for decision and revisions/ which/ in a minute/will reverse” (line 47, 48).
The beginning of the poem is pre-empted by an excerpt from Dante's Inferno which Eliot uses to begin his exploration of Prufrock's self-consciousness. By inserting this quote, a parallel is created between Prufrock and the speaker, Guido da Montefeltro, who is very aware of his position in "hell" and his inability to escape his fate. Prufrock is also very aware of his current status but doesn't realize until the end that he is unable to rise above it. The issue of his fate leads Prufrock to an "overwhelming question..."(10) which is never identified, asked, or answered in the poem. This "question" is somehow associated with his social status, but both its ambiguity and Prufrock's denial to even ask "What is it?"(11) gives some insight into his state of internal turmoil.
J. Alfred Prufrock is a man who is destined to find the right women to with for the rest of his life. He always holds off finding the perfect women to another day, but time is ticking against him and he does not have much time left. In T.S. Eliot’s, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” Illustrates Prufrock’s inability to interact with women in the coffee shop, fear of being turned down, and the significance of love and time. J. Alfred Prufrock’s life consists of sitting in a coffee shop every day desperately waiting for the perfect women to walk in. Prufrock is a very shy and awkward person who is lonely for his entire life.
The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a poem that was written by T. S Eliot. The poem introduces the character, Prufrock, as a man who is very pessimistic about everything and is incapable of change. Prufrock sees the society he lives in as a place that is full of people who think alike, and he thinks he is different from them. Though Prufrock, realizes that the society he is associated with needs a change and have more people who think differently, but the fact that he is very concerned about what people would think of him if he tries to speak up to make a change or that he would be ignored or be misunderstood for whatever he says hindered him from expressing himself the way he would like to. Prufrock then decides not to express himself in order to avoid any type of rejection. In the poem, Prufrock made use of several imagery and metaphor to illustrate how he feels about himself and the society he is involved in. Prufrock use of imageries and
T.S. Eliot’s breakthrough poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is expertly crafted to have a complex structure with various hidden themes. The poem acts as an inner monologue for the titular character, appearing as lyric-narrative poetry. However, it does appear to lean towards a lyric poem, with the hazy plot consisting of Prufrock describing what his life has been like, in retrospect to speculating on what is to come next. The monologue throughout is melancholy in nature, with Prufrock dwelling on issues such as unrequited love, his frail body, his looming demise, and a dissatisfaction with the modernist world. Eliot uses a variety of metaphor within the poem to showcase Prufrock’s indecision, between being unable to fully live, while
Prufrocks next thoughts tell of his old age and his lack of will to say what is on his mind. He mentions his bald spot in his hair and his thin arms and legs. This suggests that he knows he is growing old, and therefore contradicts what he had mentioned earlier in the poem about having plenty of time. Throughout the poem he is indecisive and somewhat aloof from the self-involved group of women. One part of him would like to startle them out of their frustratingly polite conversations and express his love for her, but to accomplish this he would have to risk disturbing their ?universe? and being rejected. He also mentions ?sprawling on a pin?, as though he pictures himself being pinned in place and viciously analyzed like that of an insect being literally pinned in place. The latter part of the poem captures his sense of overwhelming lack of willpower for failing to act daringly, not only at that tea party, but throughout his life.
Allusions are used by many writers in order to further enhance their writing and give it a deeper meaning. The author of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot, was one of those writers who used allusions to make his writing more complex. In this poem, Eliot alludes to many different figures, including a Biblical figure, mythological creature, historical person, and fictional character. All of the allusions are used to enrich the reader’s understanding of Prufrock’s thoughts and feelings. The most prominent allusions in the poem regard the themes that Prufrock does not think he fits in and thinks he is insignificant.
Alfred Prufrock is an indecisive character in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” that has an inability to love with his insecurities and perception of himself holding him back. He contemplates “[having] the strength to force the moment to its crisis” but is reminded that he has “...seen the moment of [his] greatness flicker/ And [he has] seen the eternal footman hold [his] coat and snicker/And in short [he] was afraid” (ln 80 and 84-86). His old age and “eternal footman” or lingering fear of death, holds him back from his possible potential to find love or express the way he feels, leaving Prufrock isolated from society. (ln 85). Stuck in the past, possibly in a time in his life where he was rejected, “[he] has heard the mermaids singing, each to each/[he does] not think they will sing to [him]” (ln 124-125). The “mermaids singing” are metaphorically being used to compare a woman’s voice, to make a statement that women will never talk to him as he will never approach them with his lingering fear of rejection in mind (CITE QUOTE). His helplessness and longing for the love left with nothing but the recollection of his youth and indecisive actions that left him
‘The streets lead to an "overwhelming question" that Prufrock refuses to answer. Prufrock refuses to divulge the question because he fears his potential lover will respond negatively. If he received a rejection from her, Prufrock would undoubtedly be distraught and on the brink of full-blown depression. At least Prufrock knows himself well enough to refrain from doing this, thereby preventing his emotional
They think that everything has to be perfect to look good for others. Today there are people who do not care how he or she looks to others but how they feel about themselves. “They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully ignorant of passion on age […] they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave.” (pg22). In Brave New World they were conditioned not to care for their death and their age. They did not have to worry about growing old, having or catching diseases. They were taught not to think any different because they all look young and
The Modern humankind is caught up in a series of trivial pursuits that seem to make their lives shallower. Eliot uses “Prufrock” to show that the only cause for doing the trivial actions is to avoid the bigger issue. Which could be as simple as asking a woman out, or a complicated as facing death. Either way, J. Alfred Prufrock was avoiding everything challenging in his life.
“Just Do It.” In 1988, these three words became the slogan of the Nike Footwear Incorporation. Since then, the slogan has been described as one of the best taglines of the 20th century. Its success can be attributed to the fact that it attempts to push people out of their comfort zones and by doing so, aims to evoke a positive result. In other words, it discourages indecision, an affliction under which many fall victim. In the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot, the main character, Prufrock, greatly struggles with indecisiveness. He over thinks every decision he is faced with and never “just does anything.” Ultimately, this quality of Prufrock’s keeps him from asking a question he sincerely wants to ask and, in doing
Today’s society, and pretty much our whole lives are influenced and controlled by the media. It is everywhere. So it really is to be expected that it would have an effect on how people view themselves and others. From a very young age people’s minds are filled with images of the perfect person, and they form a sort of idea based off of what they see in the media of how a person should look. But what is often not in people’s minds is that most of the beautiful and perfect people they are seeing in the media and that they are idolizing do not even actually look like that. These people are seeing images of celebrities and models that have been airbrushed, made up, and photoshopped for hours. So seeing these people and having that idea in
The title T. S. Eliot chose for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is ironic. Mr. Prufrock does not love anyone, nor does he believe he is loved. He has disdain for the society of which he wishes he were a part, and he believes society views him no differently. The imagery of Mr. Prufrock's thoughts provide the audience a more detailed insight into his character than had Mr. Eliot simply listed Mr. Prufrock's virtues and flaws. Mr. Prufrock is seen as an exaggeration or extreme for the sake of literary commentary, but the world has many Prufrocks in many differing degrees, and T. S. Eliot has made them a little easier to understand.