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Examples Of Allusions In The Hollow Men

Decent Essays

T.S Eliot’s The Hollow Men is a broad allegory for deliverance in a landscape reminiscent of purgatory. Eliot provides examples of allusion, imagery, and paradox to describe a fully realized apocalyptic scenario that affirms the hopelessness of a godless world.
The poem begins two allusions: literary and historical. “Mr. Kurtz—he dead” is reference to Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Kurtz was a man who had lost his humanity after traveling to Africa and succumbing to insanity. “A penny for the old Guy” is a question traditionally asked by children on November 5th in England. The question references Guy Fawkes, a British rebel infamous for his involvement in the ‘Gunpowder Plot’, set to assassinate King James I. Both Kurtz and Fawkes are

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