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Analysis of The Hollow Men, by T.S. Eliot

with direct eyes'. Direct' indicates the positive aspect of death. Eliot may refer to the idea of life in death for the hollow men. Hollow men can not really die they are in between life and death. "Remember us not as lost violent souls but as the hollow men": " Lost violent souls" may represent the two epigraphs- Mr. Kutz and Guy Fawkes they hope to be remembered as hollow men. Eliot probably hints that it is better to be lost violent souls that being "hollow" and "stuffed" man


II
Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer -
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom
Analysis of Part II: "Eyes I dare not meet in dreams in death's dream kingdom": In those lines the speaker fears facing the death the eyes of death even in his dreams. We, hollow men, can only encounter with the eyes' symbols like "sunlight on a broken column" which gives broken light "a tree" and "voices in the wind". All of these are perceived indirectly. To reach the direct eyes are more distant and more solemn than the fading star which represents remoteness from reality, especially spiritual reality. In short, he fears the meet with direct vision of death. "Let me be no nearer in death's dream kingdom": The speaker doesn't want to come any closer to death kingdom in other words he doesn't want to be near to death. He wants to be disguised among other hollow men. He wants to conceal himself and he wishes to "wear such deliberate disguises/rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves" and behave as the wind behaves. He tries to disguise himself among hollow men like a scarecrow with crossed staves. Crossed staves may be related to being stuffed with delusions and hopelessness.
III .This is the dead land
This is the cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.
Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.
Analysis of Part III: In this part there is a representation the world hollow men live in. The narrator defines his world as waste land


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