The Lovesong Of J Alfred Prufrock Rhetorical Analysis

“And would it have been worth it, after all? Would it have been worth it?” That’s the question- the question that so many of us face every day and a question that is pondered in the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot. Eliot’s transcendent use of diction and tone tells the story of an old man who is unhappy with his life and the things that he hadn’t accomplished. The man in the poem is tired of his superficial surroundings and he wishes that he had done something more meaningful with his life. “For I have known them all already, known them all…” (Line 49). That line is probably the most important line in the whole poem to me. It gives off the vibe that he’s bored and that he feels like he’s missing out on the real and important stuff. It says that he’s known all these people already. He means that they are all the same. They …show more content…
That’s a problem that a majority of people have every day. Later in the poem, it talks about how he wants to fall in love, but he’s not sure if he still has time and he regrets not doing it before. The way the man sees it, people are going to judge him after he dies. He uses the analogy, “When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall/ Then how should I begin/ To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?” (Lines 55-60) to show that he isn’t happy with what will be seen when whoever these people are are “evaluating” his life. I’ve already said once that he feels that his time has run out. His prime has passed, and he no longer has time to do what he thought that he’d always have time for. His life is almost over. “I am no prophet- and here’s no great matter; / I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, / And I have seen the eternal footman hold my coat and snicker / and in short, I was afraid.” (Lines