The Humanity of Men

The majority of the words that appear in the Wordle of  T.S Eliot’s The Hollow Men are not astonishing or ground breaking – “kingdom” appears multiple times in the Eliot’s multifaceted take on the afterlife, the word “death” a continuation of this discussion. The larger words are indeed reflective of main themes strewn through out the poem. That being said, there is a difference between themes presented in Eliot’s poetry through repetition of certain words and the crux, the root, of the Hollow Men – the repetition of a word does not make it more important, even in poetry.

         However, the word “men” does stand out to me and relate to what I consider to be the crux of the poem. If you look at the Hollow Men as an emphasis on the humanity of men, the carnal aptitude the human race possesses, that would relate nicely to the brokenness the Hollow Men, and in extension all men, must live with. For me the crux of the poem appears in the third stanza, “Is it like this/In death’s other kingdom/Walking alone/At the hour when we are/Trembling with tenderness/Lips that would kiss/Form prayers to broken stone.” This stanza reiterates a major fear of the Hollow Men, for humanity: to “[walk] alone,” to be alone when we “tremble with tenderness” – when our vitality is brimming within us yet the ways in which we express our emotion and the life within us – the “lips that would kiss” – instead fall on “broken stone.”

         Thus, the repetition of the word “men” serves as an emphasis on the humanness of men, the brokenness of us all.  Perhaps this is why none of us can end with some great deed and be remembered forever like some super hero or Christ, even though we strive to live forever in our “prayers to broken stone,” our hope for salvation, – instead we all end “Not with a bang but a whimper.”