Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Prufrock

There are many images in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" that provoke emotions within the reader. One image occurs at the very beginning of the poem, in the third line. Prufrock states, "When the evening is spread out against the sky/ Like a patient etherized upon a table." This biblical allusion makes for a somber tone in which the reader feels sympathy for the speaker and the environment he is stuck in. Also, the speaker makes reference to a patient laying dead on a table, which is a very similar to the image of Jesus dying on a cross. Prufrock makes many biblical allusions in his poem; however, this parallel is the most profound because the whole rest of the poem talk about how Prufrock does not live up to the ultimate human existence (or even a fulfilling one) by comparing him to a person who many people believe is not defined by his life, but instead, his death.

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