The Hollow Men

Eliot starts his poem The Hollow Men with a quote from Joseph Conrads novel the Heart of Darkness. The line Mistah Kurtz-he dead refers to a Mr. Kurtz who was a European trader who had g single(a) in the the heart of darkness by traveling into the central African jungle, with European standards of life and conduct. Because he has no moral or spiritual strength to buzz off him, he was soon turned into a barbarian. He differs, however, from Eliots hungry men as he is not paralyzed as they argon , but on his death catches a inspect of the nature of his actions when he claims The horror! the Horror! Kurtz is thus one of the lost /Violent souls mentioned in lines 15-16. Eliot next continues with A penny for the Old Guy. This is a reference to the cry of couch children soliciting money for fireworks to commemorate Guy Fawkes day, November 5; which commemorates the gunpowder diagram of 1605 in which Guy Fawkes and other conspirators planned to blow up both houses of Parliamen t. On this day, which commemorates the failure of the explosion, the wishs of Fawkes are burned in effigy and mock explosions using fireworks are produced.

The relation of this use to the poem suggests another inference: as the children make a game of make believe out of Guy Fawkes , so do we make a game out of religion. The prime(prenominal) lines spiel the title and theme into a critical relationship. We are like the Old Guy, effigies stuffed with straw. It may also be find that the first and last part of the poem point a church service, and the ritual service throughout. This is indicated in the passages sl ant unneurotic...whisper together, and the ! voices quiet and meaningless as the service drones on. If you unavoidableness to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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