mod. b: the hollow men Flashcards
1
Q
modern world
hollow
hollow men
A
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
- paradox - inadquate sustenace, hollow men due to nihilism (life has no meaning)
- hedonism
- link to scavengers
- damnantion is preferable to the superficialitty of the modern world
- repeated interjection provides structure
2
Q
futility
rats’ feet
hollow men
A
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
- synechdoche - reference to scavengers
- anti-aesthetic imagery
- dry cellar - religious reference, water is a symbol of rebith
- dry - no hope of baptismal hope or salvation, no water, religious allusion
3
Q
modern world
dreams
hollow men
A
Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
- synechdoche, alienated separted from oneself due to unfulfillment and the modern world
- fragmentation of identity and society
- allusion to dante’s inferno
- inadquate substance of hollow men
4
Q
futility
shape
hollow men
A
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
- fragmentation - mirros hollow/stuffed men
- unfulfillment
- paradox
- anti-aesthetic imagery
5
Q
futility
cactus
hollow men
A
This is the dead land
This is cactus land
- anaphora
- dry, no water - symbolises lack of fulfillment (lack of water)
- water symbolises fulfillment
- religious allusion to baptimism - new life
6
Q
modern world
prickly pear
hollow men
A
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o’clock in the morning.
- parody of nursery rhyme, fertility dance
- mulberry dance = prickly pear r
- continued anti-aesthetic desert imagery (dry = lack of fulfillment)
- musical motif is continued in hollow men
- subversion of musical tropes
- ironic use of nursery rhyme - satire, paradox of death
- concludes poem with reference to youth - ironic, contrasts morbid tone
