J Alfred Prufrock Allusions

Not all love songs are about love. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Elliot is a tale of a lonely and tormented man living a life of regret. In order to establish his self-deprecating and depressed attitude, Prufrock’s dejected tone and insecure characterization are established through the use of diction, imagery, and allusion. J. Alfred Prufrock is an insecure man living in his own head. Throughout the entire poem, he contemplates truly living life but continuously puts it off for a later date by saying “there will be time” as he believes be will be ridiculed by his society. He is apprehensive about every decision he makes and usually chooses the safer choice. His insecurity and fear of rejection are what prevent him from doing

Prufrock’s countless descriptions of his society and surroundings as desolate and dying showcase his hopelessness for a new beginning and hopelessness for his life. He describes himself as living in a life that is “like a patient etherized upon a table,” (9). A patient who is etherized is completely numb and waiting for an operation. Operation is a last resort so this patient is just waiting for death. The patient has no hope like Prufrock does not have for his life. Prufrock’s descriptions of the world around him as “deserted” and “cheap” illustrate his disdain and dying hope for change. He talks of “certain half-deserted streets, ” (10) and “restless nights in one-night cheap hotels,” (11). Because of the negative connotations that such words carry, the reader can see Prufrock’s pessimistic view of the world around him. In the sixth stanza, Prufrock says he knows “For I have known them all already, known them all; have known the evenings, mornings...the voices dying with a dying fall,” (55-58). He knows how that he and everyone in his society are letting life pass them by, only made significant by small, irrelevant tasks. His use of the word “dying” show his defeatist feelings towards life, accepting that he will die without truly

This insecurity is depicted through his physical descriptions of himself. He describes himself as having a “bald spot in the middle of [his] hair” (40) and “how his arms and legs are thin” (44). He does not portray himself in a positive light and fears the scrutiny and judgement of those around him as he has experienced it before. Because of these undesirable physical qualities, he questions if he should even leave his house. Another example of Prufrock’s self-deprecation is his comparison of himself to a bottom-feeding creature. He says “I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling around the floors of silent seas,” (79-80). He degrades himself in such a way that he believes he is worth no more than a crab living at the bottom of the ocean, with no purpose or place but at the lowest of the