The Hollow Men Summary

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Hollow Humanity (An analysis of the messages from The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot) “To the generation that wasted its youth in that earlier war, the shock of discovering the instability of their world” (Bradbrook). The Great War and World War II were the most life consuming wars that ever took place. During this time there wasn’t much faith, optimism, or hope for the future. Many poets focused on the human condition. Meanwhile, T.S. Eliot wrote some very influential poetry that captured the lives of individuals during the time and his poetry is still relatable to individuals in the 21st century. In The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot is a poem where Eliot uses numerous allusions to historical events and literary works to develop the idea that modern …show more content…

Eliot another essential message that can be extracted from this poem is every modern individual wears a mask, to hide their truest self. Indicated in The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot, “Let me also wear Such deliberate disguises” (Eliot 1164 lines 31-32). The previous quote informs the reader that modern individuals all hide under their deliberate masks, don’t want to let others see their possible weaknesses and insecurities. For instance, everyday due to habit individuals of the modern time ask each other how they are doing. However, nine out of ten times the response is jaded and a lie. A person can easily be tremendously suffering inside yet they are capable of putting a fake deceptive smile on their face and pretend that everything is fabulous in their ‘perfect’ life. Likewise, pointing out another problem of the modern human condition everyone feels the need to pretend that they indeed have perfect life and that are always happy. While, they are actually miserable and hate their life everyday. Modern individuals don’t want to let anyone in. Especially millennials, they don’t like to showcase their insecurities or imperfections. Also, they are often mislead by a fake persona of public figures and famous individuals that life is meant to always be good and that they are living the ideal life. Additionally, Richard G. Hodgson is a writer of the Purdue University Press and explains this wrongdoing of the modern individual in a clear way. Expressed by …show more content…

Eliot there are three essential messages that can be extracted from this digestible poem. In The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot the first essential message that can be extracted from this poem is individuals of the modern era talk a lot but converse about meaningless subjects, their words mean absolutely nothing. In The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot another essential message that can be extracted from this poem is every modern individual wears a mask, to hide their truest self. In The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot the third essential message that can be extracted from this poem is modern individuals are unable to fulfill or complete anything. Do you believe there are several flaws and problems with the modern, human condition? To end on this note, Cleanth Brooks is a writer of the University of North Carolina Press and is writing a critique of The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. Importantly, The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot, the poem is the footnotes to The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. Cleanth Brooks states this interesting notion, “The fact that men have lost the knowledge of good and evil, keeps them from being alive”. Ponder this concept for a bit in your mind, do you believe this could be

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