Comparison of J. Alfred Prufrock and the Narrator of The Wasteland
These two epic poems by "The Father of Modern Poetry" T.S. Eliot, are comparable and similar when their styles, contents and themes are scrutinized. Additionally, each of these poems exemplifies the quirky mastery of Eliot's contributions to the literary world. Although each poem focuses around timeless themes and subjects, the texts are both saturated in a conspicuous mix of odd-ness and new-ness which is what ultimately links them together as modern masterpieces. Style is undoubtedly one of the most obvious and apparent characteristics of the two poems. Serving as perfect illustrations of Eliot's innate and curious writing style, both The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Wasteland are written with just enough confusion and randomness as to overload the reader with questions, overwhelm them with incognizance and entice them to continue reading. However, the way in which Eliot's writing style reflects upon the central characters of each poem is quite different. In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the basic nature of the title character is complimented and enhanced by the style that Eliot maintains throughout the poem. One example is Eliot's use of recurrent images, which are a part of the confusion and randomnes
Again, this style of Eliot's - using randomness and confusion - contributes something to the narrator of the poem and the persona which he presents. These two poems go hand in hand in the eye of the reader as poems of soul searching and journeying with a free form. Alfred Prufrock, Eliot's style of new-ness and random-ness is also quite powerful in The Wasteland. In its entirety, the poem portrays the introspections of Prufrock as he ponders his existence and poses endless, and seemingly unanswerable questions, such as "Do I Dare?" (page 7). As Prufrock narrates the poem he disposes upon the reader a train of thought filled with deep introspections; simultaneously the repedity of the lines in the poem illustrate to the reader what lies deep inside the mind and soul of Prufrock. Similarly, speeches given by the narrator of the poem and by a few other characters are often indecipherable from one another and it is confusing as to who is saying what to who. At first the repitition of the lines seems awkward and out of place. The poem is clearly divided into five sections, however within each section scenes are written in fragments as if having been haphazardly thrown together. In the case of The Wasteland, similar styalistic tendencies of Eliot are apparent, and they again have an effect on the central character of the poem, in this case the narrator. However, in this instance, Eliot's significant usage of style lies in the overwhelming amount of fragments which exist throughout the poem in the modes of scenes and voices. Alfred Prufrock, Eliot returns, again and again, to the image of Prufrock's hair growing thin and gray. In the case of the lines which repeatedly, and somewhat monotonously, comment about his aging hair and appearance, they serve as evidence to the reader that Prufrock is overwhelmingly self-conscious.
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