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Analysis Of The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock

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Brittany Woelber Final Examination American Literature Brucker 1) In the poem “the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" Eliot, there is many lines that put forward J. Alfred Prufrock’s loneliness. Alfred is alone, and not only that but he is growing old alone. He has no one to look after him to make sure he is safe, no one to make him happy or bring company into his life, no wife, no children, and Alfred also seems as though he is not happy with himself. In lines 73 and 74 : ““I should have been a pair of ragged claws/ Scuttling across the floors of silent seas”, Alfred is downing himself by mentally and verbally putting himself in that particular setting. He seems to believe that he does not deserve to live a life with everyone else in the world and that he deserves to be in the position that he is. I think this is why he chose the ocean floors also; it is one of the most isolated places you can get. He wants to be far away from where he is because he does not fit in and feels like people are always judging him. Lastly, when he says “ragged claws” he is referring to a crab. Crabs have a protective shell that keeps them safe from the dangers around them. This represents Alfred’s view of the world being a hostile place to live. Also, crabs move sideways and cannot move backwards and forwards. Eliot may have used this as a reference to Alfred not being able to go back and change things even if he might want to. 2) The short story “The Separating” by John Updike centers around

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