This can be a very difficult poem to understand and to try
and establish the them of. However, the secret to unlocking what Eliot is trying to talk
about is the character of J. Alfred Prufrock himself and how he is characterised as
being paralysed by his own fears of himself and of others and what they think of him. He
is a man who is literally burdened by self-doubt and fear of how he is perceived and
thought of. Bearing this in mind, one of the key passages comes towards the end of the
poem, when he reaches a conclusion about himself and his life. Consider the following
lines:
I grow
old... I grow old...I shall wear the bottoms of my
trousers rolled.Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to
eat a peach?I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk
upon the beach.I have heard the mermaids singing, each to
each.I do not think that they will sing to
me.
Note how this quote
reveals the role in life that the speaker feels he has. He sees himself as an aging man
who tries to cling to his youth and longs to connect to others, symbolised in the
mermaids, but does not expect to succeed. Note the lack of self-confidence and the
self-doubt implied by the two questions in this quote. He is a man literally paralysed
by how others may view him, and as a result can never really live a meaningful life. It
is highly important that although he is walking on his way to a destination, he never
reaches it, suggesting that his life will be passed in this way, journeying without
every reaching a goal.
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