Even Among The Giants Of Literature, Such As Arnold,...

Even among the giants of literature, such as Arnold, Wordsworth, and Milton, Thomas Sterns Eliot stands tall. As the founder of the modernist movement and the voice of a disillusioned generation, there are few who can rival the impact Eliot had on the world of literature. How then, does one choose one work to define this man? Examining his personal beliefs and writings, there are a few threads which connect them all. These threads culminate in his 1925 poem, â€Å"The Hollow Men†, a poem which describes men stranded in a desert watching their only hope begin to fade away. Canto III of â€Å"The Hollow Men† best represents the essence of T.S. Eliot’s writings because it depicts the technique and ideas common throughout his work. Eliot’s primary†¦show more content†¦Instead, they wander aimlessly as people who are neither good nor evil, but only sad an ineffectual like the people in the featured poem. Eliot uses the imagery of the desert as shortha nd to convey this idea to his readers. It is clearly seen that Eliot’s masterful use of imagery is present in this passage. The first theme shared throughout Eliot’s works is the inability to love and the powerlessness which comes from it. This is depicted in the lines â€Å"Trembling with tenderness/Lips that would kiss/Form prayers to broken stone† (Eliot, Hollow Men). These people desire to kiss and be intimate with each other but despite their passion, they are unable to do so, able only to repeat useless prayers. This idea is present in another one of Eliot’s poems: â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.† In this poem, an ageing man named Prufrock wishes to ask a girl an â€Å"overwhelming question†, but is incapable of doing so due to his fear and anxiety. Prufrock eventually resigns himself to a lonely existence, viewing himself as repulsive and worthless as a crab â€Å"Scuttling across the floors of silent seas† (Eliot, L ove Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 73-74). Just as the desert people are unable to connect with each other; Prufrock is unable to ask his question. This view is likewise reiterated in â€Å"The Wasteland†. During a romantic moment with a girl in a garden, the narrator suddenly has a crisis,