A Love Song for Bobby Long Analysis Essay

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot is a poem unlike any I have ever read before. The poem starts off with the speaker taking what seems to be a potential lover along for a walk. The speaker first describes their surroundings and says that “the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table” and that “the streets follow like a tedious argument”. The sky is described as someone who has been anesthetized, someone who can’t feel anything. The streets are like an argument, something that can tear two people apart. The similes used make the setting seem dark and dreary. The speaker then brings up that he has a question he wishes to

Another symbol is Just Frank, who is an old guy that stayed at the corner in the apartments. He would tell Bobby that he needed to change if he wanted to become a man. One night Just Frank was killed while trying to help a girl from being dragged into an alley by an idiot. Frank trying to help the girl was being a man. Bobby wants to be a man like Just Frank. He wants to be someone’s hero and make a change. “I went to his funeral at Zion AME, then walked home and held Feather for the rest of the night, wondering if I would be a man, a good man” (Johnson 7). This quote from the novel shows that Bobby wants to be like Just Frank and be a man.

When reading the title of T.S Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” it is believed we are in store for a poem of romance and hope. A song that will inspire embrace and warmth of the heart, regretfully this is could not be further from the truth. This poem takes us into the depths of J. Alfred Prufrock, someone who holds faltering doubt and as a result may never come to understand real love. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” takes us through Prufrock’s mindset and his self-doubting and self-defeating thoughts. With desolate imagery, a tone that is known through the ages and delicate diction we see a man who is insecure, tentative and completely fearful.

A symbol that is shown is the symbol of the arcade, and children playing games. Bobby will see these children, or talk of what his friends are doing in the arcade; furthermore, it shows that Bobby wants to be a kid again. A symbol that is also shown is the symbol of the bubblegum. The bubblegum found on page 108 shows that he feels the temptation to leave Feather behind, and to just have his life be easy and simple. These symbols all show his longing to be a kid again, but he doesn’t follow these promptings. Bobby always seems to only glance at these symbols, but not put them to action. He doesn’t want to leave Feather all alone, even if it is hard. Another thing that Bobby does throughout the book is he censors himself. Instead of speaking out loud, he stops himself. On page forty-two, Bobby thinks to himself while the teacher is talking, and doesn’t try to contradict what the teacher is saying. He tries his hardest to just listen and keep the situation from getting worse. Throughout the book, Bobby says that he sometimes wants to be like Feather. He even acts like he is Feather’s brother on page 82 saying, “Yeah, she’s easy to deal with, my sister,” in order to get out of the responsibility of being a parent, yet he still has to take care of Feather at the end of the day. “This must be what made my mom’s eyes narrow and nasty words come out of her mouth. This must be what helped give my dad an ulcer and that look on his face that says-what next (Page 33)?” Bobby is able to realize that what he has done has changed the lives of his parents, and it has made the situation harder for his family overall. He feels bad, saying, “I feel worse because I’m taking my dad’s smile and probably some more things he’ll never talk about (Page 74),” and he sees that he might have taken his dad’s smile away. He feels guilty, and therefore decides that he will do as much as he can without his parent’s help. This

Unlike other forms of literature, poetry can be so complex that everyone who reads it may see something different. Two poets who are world renowned for their ability to transform reader’s perceptions with the mere use of words, are TS Eliot and Walt Whitman. “The love song of J Alfred Prufrock” by TS Eliot, tells the story of a man who is in love and contemplating confessing his emotions, but his debilitating fear of rejection stops him from going through with it. This poem skews the reader’s expectations of a love song and takes a critical perspective of love while showing all the damaging emotions that come with it. “Song of myself”, by Walt Whitman provokes a different emotion, one of joy and self-discovery. This poem focuses more on the soul and how it relates to the body. “Song of myself” and “The love song of J Alfred Prufrock” both explore the common theme of how the different perceptions of the soul and body can affect the way the speaker views themselves, others, and the world around them.

T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is an ironic depiction of a man’s inability to take decisive action in a modern society that is void of meaningful human connection. The poem reinforces its central idea through the techniques of fragmentation, and through the use of Eliot’s commentary about Prufrock’s social world. Using a series of natural images, Eliot uses fragmentation to show Prufrock’s inability to act, as well as his fear of society. Eliot’s commentary about Prufrock’s social world is also evident throughout. At no point in the poem did Prufrock confess his love, even though it is called “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, but through this poem, T.S. Eliot voices his social commentary about the world that

T.S Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is an examination of human insecurity and folly, embodied in the title's J. Alfred Prufrock. Eliot's story of a man's "overwhelming question", his inability to ask it, and consequently, his mental rejection plays off the poem's many ambiguities, both structural and literal. Eliot uses these uncertainties to develop both the plot of the poem and the character of J. Alfred Prufrock.

More than once in every man’s life he has yearned for something that is out of his reach. Whether it be fashionable clothes, an elaborate home, a newer car, or a more desirable career, some things are unattainable. George Milton, one of the main characters

The monologue style of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” is interesting because it doesn’t clearly identify whether or not the speaker is talking to another person or his inner self. A monologue is like a conversation, but uses the language of poetry. This particular dramatic monologue tells the story of J. Alfred Prufrock, a man who is so wracked with insecurity and worried about how others perceive him that he is afraid to live his life.

feel inferior, they forget the positives and the processes they have worked hard on, and the chances

People all have their faults--it’s just human. And for humans, it’s hard not to get caught up in all the false dreams and fantasies of fame and success that come with everyday life. These illusions create a promising facade on what is actually there, and one must not get too lost in such fantasies, otherwise, the result can become too overwhelming to bear. It’s difficult to see past, but definitely not impossible. The solution is to just face reality, no matter how tough it may seem at first.

J. Alfred Prufrock constantly lived in fear, in fear of life and death. T. S. Eliot divided his classic poem into three equally important sections. Each division provided the reader with insight into the mental structure of J. Alfred Prufrock. In actuality, Prufrock maintained a good heart and a worthy instinct, but he never seemed to truly exist. A false shadow hung over his existence. Prufrock never allowed himself to actually live. He had no ambitions that would drive him to succeed. The poem is a silent cry for help from Prufrock. In each section, T. S. Eliot provided his audience with vague attempts to understand J. Alfred Prufrock. Each individual reader can only interpret these

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a uniquely styled piece of literature.  In this poem Eliot employs a literary method of writing called "stream of consciousness."  This is a difficult method to grasp outside of the literary genre to attempt to understand it within the context of the higher language of poetry can further confuse readers.

While looking back at the title, the reader realizes that the poem was definitely not over love or relationship, but the lack of love and relationship. This man Prufrock was a lonesome and depressed man with nothing to live for, and what the author is trying to get across to the reader is to not live his or her life like this man. Live life by making choices and changes every day to become the person his or her were made to be; don’t live in whole and just watch from the outside, get out and

This lack of willpower is displayed in line 111 where Prufrock states: "I am not Prince Hamlet." He will not, like Shakespeare's famous character, shake off his doubts and "force the moment to its crisis" (80). Prufrock feels more like the character Polonius from the same Shakespearian work. He feels that he is only able to dream of romance, and never truly experience it for himself. Instead he will have his trousers rolled at the bottom as a statement of fashion and "walk upon the beach" (123). He follows up with a romantic vision of mermaids singing to him from the sea, but deep down he knows they will not sing to him. Prufrock is caught in a sort of paralysis where no matter how much he wishes to, he finds himself unable to act on his own impulses and desires. Because of this affliction, Prufrock will continue living in a world with daydreams of romance until he finds himself awakened by the human voices of real life in which, as very grimly states in the final line of the poem, he will drown.