the hollow men

¶ … Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot was first published in Poems: 1909-1925 and contains many overlapping themes that were also seen in many of his other works. Moreover, "The Hollow Men" is reflective of the overarching themes that were seen in World War I poetry and may also provide an introspective look into Eliot's emotional and psychological state at the time. In "The Hollow Men," Eliot uses allusions, imagery, and an overall theme of despair and isolation.

"The Hollow Men" makes references to at least two outside works or events, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. In addition to being referenced in the five parts of Eliot's poem, these two allusions are also referenced in the poem's epigraph as Eliot writes "Mistah Kurtz -- he dead" and "A penny for the Old Guy" (lines-epigraph). In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz realized, upon his deathbed, the extent of humanity's horrific nature a concept that is reflected in "The Hollow Men." Moreover, Eliot's poem appears to depict a more horrific aspect of death as it progresses. For example, the first part of the poem introduces "the hollow men" that are the main topic of the poem. It is not clear if these "hollow men" are alive or dead as the only distinction that is drawn arises when the unnamed, and presumably hollow narrator, states "Those that have crossed/With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom/Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost/Violent souls, but only as the hollow men" (lines 13-17). The second section appears to define the narrator's expectations of "death's Kingdom" and how it not as he had expected; whereas the narrator expected to encounter "Eyes I dare not meet in dreams/in death's dream kingdom" he instead finds that "the eyes are/Sunlight on a broken column" (lines 19-23).

The second section of "The Hollow Men" uses imagery to describe what the narrator saw and heard while in "death's kingdom," as well as his desire to wear "deliberate disguises" (line 32). In addition to the "sunlight on a broken column," the narrator also sees "a tree swinging" an implication that there is also a wind that flows through the land; while the narrator does not state that he can feel the wind, he states that he can hear it as "voices are/in the wind's singing/More distant and more solemn/Than a fading star" (lines 24-28). The third section of the poem carries similar imagery to describe how "death's kingdom" looks. The narrator describes the land as being "dead" and desolate like a desert by calling it "cactus land" (lines 39-40). Additionally, the tone and sense of isolation is reinforced when the narrator compares the barren environment he is in to "death's other kingdom" and states that in both worlds he is "waking alone" (lines 46-47).

The fourth section of the poem presents an even more isolated and desperate tone than the previous sections. While the narrator could previously see in the second section, in the fourth section of the poem it appears as though he has lost the sense of sight and desperately says "The eyes are not here/There are no eyes here/in this valley of dying stars/in this hollow valley/This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms" (lines 52-56). The narrator also implies that there is a change of scenery moving from the "dead land" and the "cactus land" of the previous section into the "hollow valley."