Wednesday, July 26, 2017

What literary movement is "The Hollow Men" a product of?

"The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot is an example of a modernist poem. The poem was published in 1925 at the height of the modernist movement, which included literature, visual art, and film.
Modernism is characterized by a break with Romantic and Victorian traditions. Stream-of-consciousness narration replaced the intrusive voice of a third person omniscient narrator or the italicized thoughts of a speaking character. Modernist literature discussed subjects such as sexuality and violence that were previously avoided in literature. It did not shun vulgarity either.
"The Hollow Men" addresses the alienation and void of moral purpose that many people, particularly returning soldiers, felt after the First World War. In the first stanza, the narrator suggests even the camaraderie that develops in a war zone has not brought comfort or a sense of strength: 

    We are the stuffed men    Leaning together    Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!    Our dried voices, when    We whisper together    Are quiet and meaningless    As wind in dry grass

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