Gesture without Motion: A Simple Lack of Effort

I agree with Pamela that the number of times the words appear in the Wordle have no significance in relation to the crux or meaning of the poem. And, I agree with Virginia that the crux of the poem is "Shape without form, shade without colour, /Paralysed force, gesture without motion" (Elliot, 1.11-12). I think it speaks to the general sense of meaningless and lifelessness that the poem gives, but at the same time speaks to the confusion and fear the men feel at the prospect of leaving limbo and not finding the meaning that they so desperately want.
Each of the four phrases in the crux relates to a later quote in the poem that is a key piece in understanding the mystery the is "The Hollow Men." "Shape without form" alludes to the "shadow" (5.9) in which each of these hollow men live. It never takes form and becomes anything because none of the men ever make the choice to get out of limbo, entering into either "death's other Kingdom" (1.14) (heaven) or "death's dream Kingdom" (2.2) (hell). "Shade without colour" is like “the dead land… [the] cactus land” (3.1-2). This existence they’re living is a form of death. They can find sustenance and survive in this “dead land,” but they cannot really live. One can survive on the water and life inside a cactus but what kind of life is that? It is “shade without colour,” life without meaning. “Paralysed force” is “behaving as the wind behaves” (2.17). The wind is an entity that is so free and so impossible to catch that it becomes paralyzing. For these men to be able to “behave as the wind behaves” would be equal to never having to move ever again. It would be effortless. And finally, “gesture without motion” is equivalent to the line “We grope together/And avoid speech” (4.7-8) because of the way these men desperately come together for support and mutual understanding but then never get it because they are too afraid to speak. They make the gesture but are too afraid to complete the motion. That is the same thing as not making a choice and staying in limbo, and the same thing as finding sustenance but not life. They go for whatever they feel is most effortless, because they are afraid that if they try they will find out that their efforts were meaningless.