The Fear of Uncertainty

          With the crux of the poem being  “Shape without form, shade without color, / Paralysed force, gesture without motion,” the Wordle only helps us further understand it’s significance, specifically through its most prominent words: men, kingdom, and eyes. Longing to “[behave] as the wind behaves,” these men seek freedom in becoming a “shape without form,” no longer being enclosed in the confines of their own bodies. The men in the poem are “hollow men…stuffed men,” who “whisper together…quiet and [meaninglessly]” as if they were “paralysed” by some external force. Throughout the poem, a great uncertainty is felt as to what each kingdom represents to the hollow men. Though their defined meaning as heaven, hell, purgatory, or limbo remains unclear, it is ascertainable that the hollow men fear specifically “death’s other kingdom” and “death’s dream kingdom,” for fear of the unknown. These kingdoms themselves are “[Shapes] without form [and shades] without color,” full of uncertainty as to what they hold in store. This uncertainty instills fear in the hollow men, causing them to want to lose some of this fear and simply become the “empty men” who accept the indefiniteness of “death’s twilight kingdom.” They eyes constantly mentioned throughout the poem represent the entirety of the crux of the poem. They shapes without form, with no defined color, that can paralyze one through simply appearing or disappearing, and in the same way gesture without motioning. These eyes instill fear in the men because of the uncertainty they bring in either disappearing or reappearing. Through the most prominent words represented in the Wordle, the crux of the poem is aided, giving it a better understanding