Paralysis

The wordle is, of course, literally representative of “The Hollow Men” in the sense that it captures the key phrases used by T.S. Eliot, but it fails to mention what are, to me, the most important and overarching themes of this poem: the constant fear and consequent paralysis of the hollow men and, perhaps more importantly, their inability to decide if they should live their life for themselves or for the ultimate goal of pleasing an omnipotent, divine judge.  These “hollow men,” or more accurately, these men who are so full of anxiety and anguish that they have become hollow and useless, are terrified by the idea of the after life. The three “kingdoms” and the possible realms they could represent are out of the control of these men and so they essentially shut down, unable to make decisions for themselves and each other in this “broken jaw of our lost kingdom,” the image of a broken jaw symbolizing their inability to even communicate on a basic level.

 “Life is very long/For Thine is the kingdom” To me, this line represents the dilemma facing the hollow men in this poem. Should they imbue life with their own self- interpreted meaning, under the pretense that life is long and should be enjoyed? Or should the hollow men live to further their souls, and in doing so strive for the “kingdom” which possibly awaits them after death? This, for me, is the crux of the poem, and one that is not well reflected in the wordle because it is not an explicit theme.