Pros And Connotations Of The Hollow Men

eflects to us connotations of purgatory as it seems the hollow men cannot reach this kingdom, and are stuck in the middle. He also again refers to his previous scarecrow imagery with “deliberate disguises, Rat’s coat, crowskin, crossed staves”, and language such as this shows us a recurring theme in the poem, as Eliot wishes to portray them as empty and emotionless, as scarecrows. The structure in this section is very unique as the rhyme scheme is ABCACBA in the second half of the first paragraph. This is carefully structured to show that the trapped hollow men are going round in circles and are in a sense of stasis. This is a very subtle gesture by Eliot but still again adds to the connotations of purgatory. The form of the second section …show more content…
His use of sibilance in the final few lines, “Lips that would kiss form prayers to broken stone”, creates a hissing sound emphasising the pain they are in from their limbo. It also shows that the hollow men have no spiritual or sexual release in limbo, as the sly sexual reference with “lips that would kiss” shows us. They are stuck and simply have no way to release their feelings. The structure in this section is also very important in showing the sense of stasis, as all the lines seem to be in couplets, portraying the stagnation the hollow men are in and making the section seem slower . Again there is a very irregular rhyme scheme, which seems a big contrast to the previous section’s well-structured rhyme scheme, as Eliot seems to want to show that the hollow men have once again fell back into their circular routines and show they are never getting anywhere. The form used in this section is also quite helpful, as Eliot slowly drops more and more references to the setting and where the hollow men are. “This is the dead land”, and “This is the cactus land” now give us an almost clear image of a barren dead, desert where these scarecrows are trapped and cannot move from. Also, time in