Modernist Elements in the Hollow Men

Another famous and influential work from T.S. Eliot is The Hollow Men. Likely influenced by World War I, T. S. Eliot portrays a disconnect from humanity and a disillusionment with typical beliefs as a source of human despair in The Hollow Men. The “hollow men” that the work is centered around are depicted devoid of any human qualities that might provide them a relief from despair, such as hope or faith. As is written in “T. S. Eliot's Indigenous Critical Concepts and 'The Hollow Men'” by Muhammad Khan Sangi and others, “In this poem the human beings have been shown devoid of the qualities of faith, moral strength, of personality, determination and that of humanity; they are like empty bodies, lacking all human virtues” (Sangi et al para 4). No matter how these qualities were lost to the individuals, the result is constant and predictable: the individuals feel an inescapable despair. When one has nothing to anticipate in life, no expectations or hopes, then life loses its meaning. This is the world that the hollow men live in perpetually. The entire work, as Sangi describes, “is a cry of despair unrelieved by hope. The peculiarity of the poem is that it is an inner drama with the utmost economy of words. The images echo the deadness of sensibility and the emptiness of hollow men who, like the effigies, are fit only for burning” (Sangi et al para 5). Again, the hollow men are depicted as worthless, insofar as they are compared to effigies, the only purpose of which is to be

The fallout after the World War 1 and the Great Depression saw the emergence of a literary preoccupation with the idea of fragmentation, and a 'cubist application ' to literature as a means of representing the 20th Century 'modern ' reality. Authors, poets, artists etc saw; cubism, expressionism and fragmentation as the best vehicles to depict the incomplete, broken lives of their subjects. With both modern and post modern literature making a conscious break away from previous realism, 20thC literature employed and explored subjectivism, whereby the author turned from the typical external reality to the inner consciousness of a character or subject, to reflect a motif/ theme as a whole. Modernist literature did so by exploring fragmentation in terms of narrative, how a character was constructed, the formation of passages and chapters, and how events unfolded. This typically surmounted to the creation of a sense of a chaotic universe, metaphysically unfounded, laced with the subconscious fears of characters and notions of alienation.

“The Devils Language” by Marilyn Dumont and “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot are quite similar. They both critique their culture in the ways they see it. Nothing Is missing from each authors poem because it is critiquing the world as they have seen and learned from different experiences in their lives. Marilyn Dumont writes about “The great white way” (pg365, line 4) or white culture and the way that aboriginal culture is snuffed out or looked down upon. T.S. Eliot writes about people being too cowardly to be good or bad and also what happens after we die. Therefore, Marilyn Dumont and T.S. Eliot’s works are similar in the way that they see the wrongs in their cultures.

In the poem “The Hollow Men,” T.S. Eliot portrays the themes of darkness and emptiness. Through the poem Eliot sets the tone with disturbing phrases like “Headpiece filled with straw… Our dried voices.” This imagery gives the readers an underlying feeling of uneasiness. Eliot says “quiet and meaningless - As wind in dry grass - Or rats' feet over broken glass.” He repetitively uses the “s” sound throughout the rhyme scheme to create hissing sounds along with a whispering effect. This sibilance creates a creepy and disturbing atmosphere. Eliot connects “The Hollow Men” to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness first by including the quote “Mistah Kurtz—he dead.” This sets the tone for the poem because in Conrad’s novel, Mr. Kurt's lost his mind and

“The Hollow Men” also has a heavy usage of refrain, used to emphasize ideas or themes, and descriptive language, to create imagery. Overall, it has a somber sort of tone, created by Eliot’s use of words with a typically sad or negative connotation.

When discussing the greatest poetic minds to ever put their genius to use, it is nearly impossible to not mention Thomas Stearns Eliot. Eliot used his works to develop and display his emotions and his morals by writing complex themes and descriptive scenes that are all based on simple situations that either Eliot himself had lived through, or that someone he knew closely had. By doing so, Eliot was able to convey some of the core human emotions well enough to leave the reader unsure on how he or she feels about the topic themselves. Often times, the only way to express emotion, was through his works. The analysis of the life, and the writings of Thomas Stearns Eliot reveal the possible influences in his works, and the facts behind what led

Many of the repeated lines share connections to other texts. Eliot repeats the idea of a ‘kingdom’ (lines 30, 37, 45,55 and 64) to depict the location of the hollow men is a desolate wasteland. This connects to Bible as in a world without God man will suffer. This is a way in which Eliot attempts to illustrate the consequences of failing to abide by religious doctrine and morality. Man will live in a barren world without salvation and God.

T.S. Eliot's last message in his literary work The Hollow Men is that the modern world lack integrity. Eliot explains that the modern world is afraid to meet our ancestors in the other side. “Let me also wear such deliberate disguises”(32). The modern world is embarrassed about the lives we live. The modern era hides their face from the ancestors because our lives are not as valuable as their lives once were. The modern era doesn't accomplish as much importance as the times before. “ It contains the poet's reflection on the 'subject of human nature in this world, and

T.S. .Eliot is a person that believed to be a very cynical man.. T.S. Eliot wrote the poem The Hollow Men which is about

In the novella Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, and in the poem “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot, they have numerous similarities. Even though two completely different authors write them, they still have the similar topics, themes, and characters. The Heart of Darkness was wrote in 1899 about a voyage up the Congo River into the heart of Africa. Marlow and many other characters experienced many obstacles on eventful expeditions and multiple interactions with the “savages”, also known as natives. These events brought the novella and poem together. “The Hollow Men” was published in 1925 and the plot of the poem summarizes the novella, Heart of Darkness. While reading the poem you can identify which parts were originally from

Eliot uses a an even bolder approach in his poem “The Hollow Men”. The epigraphs start with an allusion to Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, simply saying “Mistah Kurtz--he dead” (2318). Considering the character Kurtz acted like as a God-like figure that ended up murdering the native Africans, Eliot sets his poem up with a great disrespect toward authority figures before it even

In the famous poem "The Hollow Men'' written by Eliot, the author depicts "a land of death", which gathers a group of "hollow men", not only showing the emptiness and a sense of loss of people, but also reflecting the falling of modern civilization. In his description, we can clearly see the hopeless status that the people live.

The poem by T.S. Elliot, The Hollow Men and the novel by Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness represent both nonchalance and insouciance. Both Elliot's hollow men and Conrad's Station Manager present an insightful rationale and emotional indifference as well as being bereft of discernible humanity. The two pieces underscore the crucial characteristics of both the station manger and the hollow men by exaggerating the details of their empty eyes as well as "death's other kingdom," (III.8) of which they both reside in, their obscure characteristics and their emptiness.

He is a man lacking the most essential components of man; He is like a “shape without form,” a “gesture without motion.” Eliot’s use of paradox extends throughout the poem to describe the hollowness of such men. The “hollow men” Eliot describes are those who have led the imperialism movement. Men such as Kurtz and the other men of The Company who Marlow cannot relate to. The fate of these “stuffed,” “dry” souls is described in “The Hollow Men” via Eliot’s use of symbolism, paradox, and allusions.

Oftentimes writers would intentionally break up the continuity of a poem, story, etc., representing the fragmented nature of the times they were living in. A prime example of this is e e cummings, whose poems are extremely fragmented and not easily understood at first read. Modernist authors often jumped spontaneously from one subject to another, seemingly with no connection between the two. The idea was to leave it up to the reader to draw conclusions and pull the story together. This technique, in a more extreme form, led to expressionism, surrealism, and other movements.