The Ties That Bind You, Modernly Define You: Prufrock’s Isolation

T. S. Eliot

The universal theme of isolation is shaped by many elements that surround the central figure in literary works, including the influence of sociological or cultural elements of his or her time.  As a result of industrialization, which encouraged greed and selfishness on the part of industry captains, individuals began to recognize their declining value, and thus lost faith in themselves, their government, and God.  Twentieth century writers focused on this awareness of self-recognized deficiencies in the population and the lost hope for mankind altogether.

T. S. Eliot examines the ramifications of a more personal form of isolation, created by an aging man’s over-exaggerated self-doubt.  Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” illustrates a deeply psychological isolation created by an individual responding to modernity’s social innovations as he explores the internal psyche of a middle-aged man, who is heavily concerned with his inadequacies.  Although Prufrock is well educated in many subjects, and possesses a great deal of favorable traits to offer women, he greatly fears the judgment of others around him, particularly the woman to which he intends to “drop a question on [her] plate” (line 30).  Ironically, he worries about the way he is viewed by the people around him, but he identifies flaws in humanity by pointing out:

“And I have known the arms already, known them all –

Arms that are braceleted and white and bare

(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)

Is it perfume from a dress

That makes me so digress?” (62-66).

Although Prufrock criticizes flaws in humanity, he obsesses with and denunciates his own appearance by revealing: “his hair is growing thin” and its “bald spot,” and compares himself to insects, crustaceans, and fools.  Because Prufrock is an extremely basic creature and second-guesses every aspect of his life, he recognizes he will never accomplish the multitude of adventures he longs to.  In his mind, never attempting something is better than trying and ultimately failing.

Through Prufrock’s over-developed self-consciousness and the make-believe criticism of his peers, he is confined within his own boundaries, leaving him alone from social settings of any kind.  Prufrock’s psychological prison has removed any drive that may reside within him to resist his self-perceived shortcomings and grow socially.  Instead, he will remain “an easy tool;” an aging “cautious…meticulous…almost ridiculous [f]ool” trapped not only by social chains, but his own personal boundaries, as well (lines 114, 116-119).