Prufrock Allusions

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“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a poem written by T. S. Eliot in 1915. It follows the somewhat disjointed and disillusioned thoughts of Prufrock, a socially inept man who wants to talk with a women, but continually falls short of achieving his goal. This poem gives its reader a good look into one representation of the nature of the human self, as presented by Eliot. Through the character of Prufrock, Eliot expresses the nature of the human self as being insecure and self-reflective to the point that action is nearly impossible because the majority of time and energy is spent imagining the possible outcomes.
One way Eliot showcases Prufrock’s insecurity is through obsessive self-reflection. Throughout the entire poem, Prufrock’s problem is that he cannot approach a woman; instead, he is too worried about how he will appear. McNamara describes this as the character intentionally putting himself in an eternal hall of mirrors, refusing to focus on the important things he needs to do (366). For instance, the “overwhelming question” is only …show more content…
Alfred Prufrock,” including Lazarus and John the Baptist. However, line 8, which states that “[he] could never be a prophet,” could actually be an allusion to the prophet Amos. In some translations, Amos said the exact same thing to Ameziah in the book of Amos, chapter seven, verse fourteen. This double allusion could be symbolic of Prufrock’s double frustrations. It is easy for him to excuse himself for not being as passionate and fiery as John the Baptist, “but he has no excuse for his inaction when he compares himself to Amos, another who is not a prophet by nature” (Sherfick). Since Amos was not a natural prophet, but he did God’s bidding anyway, Prufrock cannot use the excuse that he does not have the courageous nature to go talk to the women. Although one of the reasons he finds it so difficult in the first place is the fear of social

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