Nailed to the Wall: J. Alfred Prufrock and the Inability to Change If people are disappointed in themselves and what they have become, then there are of course two options for remedy. One is to do everything you can to change yourself and open up a better future. The second, perhaps less desirable, is realizing that change is unnecessary or nearly impossible, which leads to finding peace in the way things are or recognizing despair in the absence of the way things could be. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by TS Eliot reaffirms the futility of change (FINISH). This thoughtful yet desperate poem is the lament of a man who, though he would like to find the courage to become something else, is trapped by an unyielding inability to change who he is. Before we are introduced to Prufrock himself, we note that the opening scenes of this poem paint a landscape of apathy. The narrator initially mentions little about himself and invites us to follow him into a consequence-free world “of restless nights in cheap hotels for a night” (Eliot 6). The subsequent “roads that follow one another like a tedious argument with insidious intent” set the stage for Prufrock's dilemma (ibid. 9-10). Audrey Cahill states that this scene foreshadows “Prufrock's dialogue with himself, a dialogue that leads nowhere” and that throws the reader into meaningless chaos (6). Therefore, even if these roads lead to an overwhelming question, the journey along them is rather boring and useless if the answer takes us nowhere or, worse, simply emphasizes our desolation. This is compounded by the appearance of a mysterious yellow cat-like mist that “once curled around the house and fell asleep” (Eliot 22). Cahill also states that because…the medium of paper…has transformative power (Jain 54). Soon, “human voices [will] wake” our narrator, and he will drown in (FINISH) (Eliot 131). T. S. Eliot would later observe, “I fear J. Alfred Prufrock had not much talent for loving life” (Southam 47). This is what makes this “love song” so brutal and caustic. Because even when change doesn't matter (quite atypical END of standard romance. a man caught in stasis when (???). ). Even in his fantasies, Prufrock is Prufrock. (LEAD UP TO PINTED ON THE WALL) “So how should I start?” (line). The answer is that he can start out any way he wants, but in the end it won't matter. No matter his speech and no matter his wardrobe, he will forever be J. Alfred Prufrock, with an unsung love song he believes the world would never want to hear. Works Cited BLUMCAHILLELIOTJAINSCHNEIDERSOLESSOUTHAM

Topic > Nailed to the Wall: J. Alfred Prufrock and the Inability to Change If people are disappointed in themselves and what they have become, then there are of course two options for remedy. One is to do everything you can to change yourself and open up a better future. The second, perhaps less desirable, is realizing that change is unnecessary or nearly impossible, which leads to finding peace in the way things are or recognizing despair in the absence of the way things could be. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by TS Eliot reaffirms the futility of change (FINISH). This thoughtful yet desperate poem is the lament of a man who, though he would like to find the courage to become something else, is trapped by an unyielding inability to change who he is. Before we are introduced to Prufrock himself, we note that the opening scenes of this poem paint a landscape of apathy. The narrator initially mentions little about himself and invites us to follow him into a consequence-free world “of restless nights in cheap hotels for a night” (Eliot 6). The subsequent “roads that follow one another like a tedious argument with insidious intent” set the stage for Prufrock's dilemma (ibid. 9-10). Audrey Cahill states that this scene foreshadows “Prufrock's dialogue with himself, a dialogue that leads nowhere” and that throws the reader into meaningless chaos (6). Therefore, even if these roads lead to an overwhelming question, the journey along them is rather boring and useless if the answer takes us nowhere or, worse, simply emphasizes our desolation. This is compounded by the appearance of a mysterious yellow cat-like mist that “once curled around the house and fell asleep” (Eliot 22). Cahill also states that because…the medium of paper…has transformative power (Jain 54). Soon, “human voices [will] wake” our narrator, and he will drown in (FINISH) (Eliot 131). T. S. Eliot would later observe, “I fear J. Alfred Prufrock had not much talent for loving life” (Southam 47). This is what makes this “love song” so brutal and caustic. Because even when change doesn't matter (quite atypical END of standard romance. a man caught in stasis when (???). ). Even in his fantasies, Prufrock is Prufrock. (LEAD UP TO PINTED ON THE WALL) “So how should I start?” (line). The answer is that he can start out any way he wants, but in the end it won't matter. No matter his speech and no matter his wardrobe, he will forever be J. Alfred Prufrock, with an unsung love song he believes the world would never want to hear. Works Cited BLUMCAHILLELIOTJAINSCHNEIDERSOLESSOUTHAM