The Hollow Men Part III Analysis

The Hollow Men Part III Analysis

“The Hollow Men” by T. S. Eliot evokes a sense of hopelessness and despair. The overall pessimistic and dreadful point of view immanent in this poem suggests a conflict among nostalgia for a pure state and a search for long-lasting order. Perhaps this poem is the reflection of post World War I period, which was devoid of spiritual optimism and full of emptiness.
One noticeable aspect that differentiates part III from other parts is that in this part, the narrator is speaking from the “death’s other kingdom.” For instance, the constant usage of the word “this” is clearly different from the ways other parts describe the “other kingdom,” such as “there is a tree swinging” or “there, the eyes are sunlight on a broken column.” Instead part III shows the physical nearness between the narrator and death, especially through phrases like “here the stone images are raised” or “it is like this.”
The first stanza of part III describes an arid, infertile land. The land described here is the dead land, not a dead land, which suggests that it is an equivalent to the death’s kingdom that has been constantly mentioned throughout the poem. It is an allusion to Eliot’s other poem “The Waste Land.” The dead land appears in the line “Out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire…” It is the ultimate place of hopelessness, the final destination of despair. From the line “The supplication of a dead man’s hand,” we can see that the Hollow Men have found that there is no meaning in believing God. They are praying for life, not to God, but “raised stone images.” This part is related to idolatry or pagan worshipping, shamanism. During the Early Ages, people such as the Celts set up great stone monuments such as the Stonehenge to communicate with their Gods and to worship them. The hopeless description is framed by the last line “Under the twinkle of a fading star.” The word “twinkle” gives off a childish notation which...