A surprising statistic from an MSNBC online article claims that nearly fifty percent of Americans hate their jobs more than ever before in the past twenty years (msnbc.com). This quote relates to the fact that some Americans workers are no longer living their dreams, and they have no purpose or meaning in their lives. The poems “The Hollow Men” and “Miniver Cheevy” also have the same theme. The poem, “The Hollow Men,” by T.S. Eliot, is about the emptiness that determines the way people live their lives. Similar to this, “Miniver Cheevy,” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, is about a man constantly dreaming of living back in the Medieval times as he struggles to find meaning in his life. Although different types of images are used, both poems use imagery to create a similar message - that a life where pointless things are pursued is worthless and unfulfilling. Many people in the world who are unhappy with their lives can connect with the emptiness the hollow men feel in Eliot’s poem. “We are the stuffed men leaning together headpiece filled with straw” indicates an unoriginal quality that all the men share. Their goals in life are alike because they are not fulfilling. In “The Hollow Men,” the image of scarecrows represent people’s empty lives and their vacant pursuits. The hollow men’s lives have no point or meaning. “This is the dead land this is the cactus land” describes a vacant, dead environment. Eliot uses the barren desert to show the lifelessness of the hollow men, despite the fact that they are alive. The lack of life in that environment perfectly describes the lives of the people with no dreams that Eliot is trying to describe. Truly, the men lack any spirit and life, which Eliot showed through the imagery and characteri... ... middle of paper ... ...l problems influence every part of his life. Even after “Miniver thought, and thought,” he gave up and continued to drink. His impossible dreams always lead him back to alcohol and self pity, which lead him nowhere. Moreover, the ending line of the poem, “Miniver coughed, and called it fate, and kept on drinking,” confirms that Miniver Cheevy has given up, along with the hollow men, and his purpose for life is diminished. Although the imagery in each poem is distinct, the similarity of message in both poems is evident. The poems are similar in that the narrator’s lives are empty and contain no passion for pursuing anything. The ideas reflected in these poems are seen even today, in such things as listless living and job-related apathy. Both poems suggest that a life where dreams of meaningless things are pursued will end without purpose or significance.
Both of the poems refer to the vast characteristics of Indians. They demonstrate the facets that make up the Indian culture. Regardless of the different styles of each author, they can both be seen similar because they come from the same ethnic group. The poems tone and mood a...
In the first stanza, it is made clear immediately that this sense of wonder has driven him to the point of depression, with Arlington describing the character as a “child of scorn” and then continuing that he weeps at the very thought that he was born in the time that fate put him in. In the final stanza, Arlington writes that thinking about when fate has decided to push him to “keep on drinking” suggests alcoholism, but there is not much more evidence to suggest that Cheevy or Arlington were alcoholics. However, this does give us insight as to Cheevy’s acceptance of the situation regardless of how much he desires things to be different. The line “Miniver coughed, and called it fate” tells us that Miniver Cheevy is also a poem that could be interpreted to be about doing the most with what you have instead of trying to change what you cannot. I believe that in “Miniver Cheevy” the true problem with the character is not that he cannot stand to be in this life, but rather he believes that the era he wishes he was born in would be easier and less troublesome, as the character Miniver Cheevy appears to have a problem with laziness.
Both poems inspire their reader to look at their own life. In addition, they treat the reader to a full serving of historic literature that not only entertains, but also teaches valuable lesson in the form of morals and principles.
...hoices, Eliot shows the opposite outcome of depression and regret from a lifetime of indecision. Whether it is a far-away land of fantastical beings, the woods down the street, or perhaps the nearest city, a journey will always yield a different experience, and indecision is just as much a decision as any other. Choosing to remain inactive in a world that calls for action is to choose to grow old and have nothing of substance to look back on, since nothing was ever done.
The poetry by these two poets creates several different images, both overall, each with a different goal, have achieved their purposes. Though from slightly different times, they can both be recognized and appreciated as poets who did not fear the outside, and were willing to put themselves out there to create both truth and beauty.
In his poem “Richard Cory,” Edwin Arlington Robinson uses death to shock the reader. He places the statement of this theme (death) very wisely in the last line of the poem. This not only catches the reader off guard but peaks their interest as well. Throughout the poem, he paints this beautiful picture of a very wealthy and admired gentleman. He speaks of this man’s “king-like” qualities and how everyone in town looks up to him with hopes of one day possibly achieving his status. Robinson never gives a hint or any reason what so ever for the reader to assume the theme of this poem has anything at all to do with death. Then, out of the blue, the main character Richard Cory kills himself. Robinson’s choice to make the death a suicide also adds to the readers “shock factor.” They are never going to expect this perfect gentleman to go and put a gun to his head and take his own life. This not only surprises the reader, but leaves them asking the question why. Why would this man who and anything and everything do this to himself? R...
Although both poems are set in the same environment, and that the visual structure of the poems are similar. Once you look deeper and analysis the poems it becomes clear that they have been written in very different styles, and very different but as powerful emotions running through them i.e. grief and resignment. One poet has a future to look forward to; the other knows that death is around the corner. One poet could not have for scene a death, the other is questioning weather the ‘black diamond dust’ was worth it on reflection.
..., they are somewhat similar in comparison because they both have an inevitable ending, death. Both of the poems also used rhythm to give the reader a better insight and experience. The use of rhythm helps to set the tone right away. The use of symbolism and tone helped to convey an overall theme with both of the poems.
By drinking his life away, Miniver Cheevy chooses his own "fate" by wallowing in his own self-pity. Unfortunately, it is the alcohol that destroys his drive and motivation to live within the present time.
T. S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” is a dramatic monologue, free verse poem that consists of five parts that could be considered five separate poems. His use of “allegorically abstract text nevertheless achieves a remarkable unity of effect in terms of voice, mood and imagery” (Morace 948). Before the poem starts, there are two epigraphs; “Mistah Kurtz – he dead. / A penny for the Old Guy” (lines 1-2). Eliot alludes to these two epigraphs because their themes are developed throughout his poem. “The first epigraph is from Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” a story …that examines the hollowness and horror of lack of faith, spiritual paralysis, and despair” (Bloom 61), just like the “hollow men” in his poem. The second epigraph “refers to the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day in Britain” (Bloom 61). This is a day that celebrates Fawkes’ unsuccessful rebellion against King James I with his capture in the cellar of the Parliament building, where stored gun powder was supposed to blow up and kill King James I and his family. Once captured, he cowardly turned over his co-conspirators and they all were killed. It is “celebrated with bonfires, fireworks, the burning of scarecrows,
..., the content and form has self-deconstructed, resulting in a meaningless reduction/manifestation of repetition. The primary focus of the poem on the death and memory of a man has been sacrificed, leaving only the skeletal membrane of any sort of focus in the poem. The “Dirge” which initially was meant to reflect on the life of the individual has been completely abstracted. The “Dirge” the reader is left with at the end of the poem is one meant for anyone and no one. Just as the internal contradictions in Kenneth Fearing’s poem have eliminated the substantial significance of each isolated concern, the reader is left without not only a resolution, but any particular tangible meaning at all. The form and content of this poem have quite effectively established a powerful modernist statement, ironically contingent on the absence and not the presence of meaning in life.
Both poems represent the despairs and failures of the love they hone for their beloved, with brings a touch of sadness to the poems. From this the reader can feel almost sympathetic to the unrequited lovers, and gain an understanding of the perils and repercussions of love.
Richard Cory poems are a traditional type of poetry found all throughout different time periods. The poems range from the original to song variations, all contributing their own perspectives on what Richard Cory symbolized, and each takes their own distinct form. Richard Cory poetry usual contains the distinct ending of Richard Cory taking his own life, but each poem adds its own variations to this repetitive theme. Throughout the poems, there are also many similar themes, which portray a consistent theme of the American Dream and how it transforms. Many symbolic issues that deal with this dream are related to wealth, which is the most prominent reoccurring theme in the two poems. Whereas Robinson's "Richard Cory" focuses on symbolic issues of wealth during an early time period, Paul Simon creates a contemporary "Richard Cory", showing the transformation of the American Dream coinciding with the passage of time.
Life is meaningless, and the world is going to end. For anybody who sees the world the way it is. They truly know of the negativity it holds. In the poem The Hollow Men, by T.S. Eliot, he views the world in a very negative way. Eliot does not see any purpose in life, only darkness. In this poem, Eliot uses his diction to set the tone and the setting for the rest of the poem.
T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land is an elaborate and mysterious montage of lines from other works, fleeting observations, conversations, scenery, and even languages. Though this approach seems to render the poem needlessly oblique, this style allows the poem to achieve multi-layered significance impossible in a more straightforward poetic style. Eliot’s use of fragmentation in The Waste Land operates on three levels: first, to parallel the broken society and relationships the poem portrays; second, to deconstruct the reader’s familiar context, creating an individualized sense of disconnection; and third, to challenge the reader to seek meaning in mere fragments, in this enigmatic poem as well as in a fractious world.