& # 8220 ; The Hollow Men & # 8221 ; Essay, Research Paper

A Look Inside & # 8220 ; The Hollow Men & # 8221 ;

Eliot, a maestro of the written trade, carefully thought out each facet of his 1925 verse form & # 8220 ; The Hollow Men. & # 8221 ; Many differences in reading exist for Eliot & # 8217 ; s complex poesy. One issue ne’er debated is the extended scope of things to see in his TS Eliot & # 8217 ; s composing. Because TS Eliot frequently intertwined his authorship by holding one piece relate to another & # 8220 ; The Hollow Men & # 8221 ; is sometimes considered a mere extremity to The Waste Land. & # 8220 ; The Hollow Men, & # 8221 ; nevertheless, proves to hold many offerings for a reader in and among itself.

The epigraph contains two pertinent mentions ( hypertext transfer protocol ) . First, & # 8220 ; Mistah Kurtz & # 8211 ; he dead & # 8221 ; is an allusion to Conrad & # 8217 ; s Heart of Darkness. In his novelette, Conrad portrays the empty nature of work forces. Mistah Kurtz is a character that lacks a psyche, therefore, a true & # 8220 ; Hollow Man. & # 8221 ; In the 2nd citation the epigraph alludes to England & # 8217 ; s November 5 tradition of Guy Fawkes Day. In 1605, Guy Fawkes unsuccessfully tried to blow up the parliament edifice. Eliot & # 8217 ; s cite & # 8220 ; A penny for the old cat & # 8221 ; is called out by kids on this vacation who are trying to purchase pyrotechnics in order to blow up straw figures of Fawkes.

Within the first stanza Eliot establishes the talker, puting, subject and begins a rhythmic form that will keep true for four of the five subdivisions of the verse form. The talker in the verse form is non human, or at least prefers to be thought of as a straw man over a & # 8220 ; & # 8230 ; lost / Violent psyche & # 8230 ; & # 8221 ; ( lines 15-16 ) . The powerful comparing between the ineptitude of & # 8220 ; rats & # 8217 ; pess over broken glass & # 8230 ; & # 8221 ; ( line 9 ) to their & # 8220 ; dry voices & # 8221 ; ( line 5 ) illustrates how meaningless they ( the Hollow Men ) truly are. Two lines detached from the first stanza incorporate a series of paradoxes which further the thought of nonsense, & # 8220 ; Shape without signifier, shadiness without colour, / Paralyzed force, gesture without gesture & # 8221 ; ( 11-12 ) . Although hard to spot precisely what is traveling on and where in the verse form, the reader easy perceives the overall feeling of the hopelessness in merely the gap lines, & # 8220 ; We are the hollow work forces / We are the stuffed work forces & # 8221 ; ( lines 1-2 ) set up a inexorable feeling of emptiness. Images like & # 8220 ; This is the dead land / This is cactus land & # 8230 ; Under the scintillation of a fading star & # 8221 ; ( lines 39-44 ) make a black, dry, desert land scene. The subject of the verse form analogues those of Conrad & # 8217 ; s Heart of Darkness ( Smith ) . The debasement of ritual ( spiritual or otherwise ) and the emptiness or decrease of human to childish behaviour is parallel constructs in both pieces.

Part I of the verse form describes the insignificance of the & # 8220 ; excavate men. & # 8221 ; Part I gives the obscure scene and shows the petition of the hollow work forces to be viewed as empty ; & # 8220 ; Remember us & # 8230 ; non as lost / Violent psyche [ which Kurtz and Fawkes both were ] , but merely / As the hollow work forces & # 8221 ; ( lines 15-18 ) . It besides introduces two motives, that of eyes and land. & # 8220 ; Those who have crossed / With direct eyes, to decease & # 8217 ; s other Kingdom & # 8221 ; ( line 13-14 ) is an allusion to Dante & # 8217 ; s Paradiso ( Bowler ) . Kingdom with a capitalized K may mention to Heaven ( although all mentions to a & # 8220 ; kingdom & # 8221 ; make non ) , and those with & # 8220 ; direct eyes & # 8221 ; are allowed to travel at that place and go blessed. & # 8220 ; Eyes & # 8221 ; in the verse form refer to those of Charon in Dante & # 8217 ; s Inferno ( Williamson, 157 ) . With the line, & # 8220 ; Eyes I dare non run into in dreams & # 8221 ; ( line 19 ) the talker states that the & # 8220 ; eyes & # 8221 ; are a beginning of fright. Playing a connective function in the verse form, the first two lines in the first four subdivisions have a specific beat. Section I & # 8217 ; s, & # 8220 ; We are the hollow work forces / We are the stuffed work forces & # 8221 ; ( lines 1-2 ) is like II & # 8217 ; s & # 8220 ; Eyes I dare non run into in dreams / In decease & # 8217 ; s dream land & # 8221 ; ( 19-20 ) , Part III & # 8217 ; s & # 8220 ; This is the dead land / This is the cactus land & # 8221 ; ( 39-40 ) and IV & # 8217 ; s & # 8220 ; The eyes are non here / There are no eyes here. & # 8221 ; This linguistic communication serves as a rhythmic chorus binding each subdivision together while puting off the last. The usage of literary devices in & # 8220 ; The Hollow Men & # 8221 ; is apparently eternal. Rhyme besides plays and of import function. In I, like all of the other parts ( except the fifth ) the concluding line of the stanza rhymes with one of the old lines. For illustration the strategy in the first stanza is AABCABDCCB. Although the last line could hold ended with the two C & # 8217 ; s, it reverted back to a familiar rime stoping. This tactic gives the feeling of acquaintance and completion at the terminal of each stanza. Possibly the most powerful literary device used in & # 8220 ; The Hollow Men & # 8221 ; is repeat. The verse form contains non merely the repeat of rime, beat, and images, but besides of existent words. In fact, the 420-word work merely has 180 different words ( Spurr ) . The repeat is seen throughout the verse form and sometimes even within the same line & # 8220 ; acting as the air current behaves & # 8221 ; ( line 35 ) . Repeat non merely serves to reenforce the significance, and besides to link the subdivisions.

Part II opens with image repeat and the usage of initial rhyme & # 8220 ; Eyes I dare non run into in dreams / In decease & # 8217 ; s dream land / These do non look & # 8221 ; ( 19-20 ) . In associating his fright of & # 8220 ; the eyes & # 8221 ; the talker prefers to be emotionless. He would wish to believe of himself as a straw man & # 8220 ; Let me besides wear / Such calculated camouflages & # 8230 ; In a field / Behaving as the air current behaves & # 8221 ; ( lines 31-35 ) . The straw man may use to the

awkwardness of the talker, to the rite of Guy Fawkes Day, and other heathen rites ( Smith ) . Throughout clip straw work forces have functioned as sacrificial liquors or whipping boies siting their people of accrued wickedness. This speaker’s willing decrease to a soulless object pertains to Conrad’s subject.

Part III presents a drab image along with a familiar beat in the lines & # 8220 ; This is the dead land / This is the cactus land & # 8221 ; ( line 39-40 ) along with the lifeless scene. The concluding line of the first stanza & # 8220 ; & # 8230 ; scintillation of a fading star & # 8221 ; ( line 28 ) has two maps ( Crawford ) . First, because it is non & # 8220 ; attenuation, & # 8221 ; it implies the farness of the dead cactus land. Second, it suggests the baby’s room rime & # 8220 ; Twinkle twinkle small star. & # 8221 ; This alludes to the subject of childly behaviour and preludes the approaching baby’s room rime.

Part IV contains the familiar images of eyes, stars, and lands. Within this subdivision are the darkest most bare images of the scene. These include & # 8220 ; vale of deceasing stars & # 8230 ; & # 8221 ; and & # 8220 ; & # 8230 ; broken jaw of our lost lands & # 8221 ; ( lines 54-55 ) . Even the hollow work forces must & # 8220 ; & # 8230 ; fumble together / And avoid address & # 8221 ; ( 58-59 ) . There is a little alleviation in the despondent cape of the verse form. However in this subdivision is no longer melting or deceasing but is & # 8220 ; perpetual. & # 8221 ; The & # 8220 ; ageless star, & # 8221 ; an allusion to the Holy Virgin and the & # 8220 ; Multifoliate rose & # 8221 ; are symbols of spiritual hope ( Smith ) . However, this hope is rapidly dashed in the Part V.

The 5th portion of the verse form is the anomalousness. It develops world, non the hope of the hollow work forces ( Williamson, 159 ) . It begins with a arresting version of a familiar baby’s room rime replacing & # 8220 ; mulberry bush & # 8221 ; with & # 8220 ; prickly pear. & # 8221 ; The cactus alternatively of the rose and the nursery degree pretend makes merriment of the work forces & # 8217 ; s hope. This alteration causes thoughts of puerility, lingual devolution and confusion to happen ( Crawford ) . The following three stanzas are composed in a rhythmic expression. Almost like a pugilism modus operandi the phrases make a rhythmic one, two, one two, and so, & # 8220 ; Falls the Shadow & # 8221 ; peers 3.

Between the ( 1 )

And the ( 2 )

Between the ( 1 )

And the ( 2 )

Falls the Shadow ( 3, or the clout ) .

The & # 8220 ; Shadow & # 8221 ; is a sort of grey nothingness representative of the fright and emptiness in the hollow work forces and in world. Finally, to add to the confusion, pieces of the Lord & # 8217 ; s Prayer appear. As if the reader is supposed to make full in the spaces, the supplication is written,

For Thine is

Life is

For Thine is the

( lines 91-93 ) .

The concluding lines are a powerful childlike chant,

This is the manner the universe ends

This is the manner the universe ends

This is the manner the universe ends

Not with a knock but a whine

( lines 95-98 ) .

& # 8220 ; The Hollow Men, & # 8221 ; rich in allusions ends a hollow abstraction. This stoping seems adjustment because it mirrors the hollow work forces, who themselves have reached the border of the & # 8220 ; tumid river & # 8221 ; and are whispering ( therefore the whine ) broken supplication ( Spurr ) . The last and most powerful line is, possibly, a make bolding anticipation of the destiny of the universe and human sort. Eliot presents a drab image of his coevals and of world. The verse form can be construed to intend a assortment of things, nevertheless, the one inevitable factor is the ineluctable being of emptiness in the verse form. However, it contains a brief glance of hope in the & # 8220 ; ageless star & # 8221 ; therefore, adult male may hold a opportunity to accomplish a brighter hereafter.

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