This post contains 1st Year English The Hollow Men Poem Explanation with Reference to the Context for Class 11 students. This is Poem 10 taken from 1st Year English Syllabus book 3. I have already shared all poems notes in this post. I have taken The Hollow Men Poem by T.S. Eliot Notes from Kips Notes. 1st Year English Book 1 notes are also available at ilmihub. I have tried my best to provide the students with quality content. I have included images containing Urdu Translation of the lines, explanation, and critical notes. At the end of the post, you will find the main idea of The Hollow Men poem.
1st Year English Poem 10 Hollow Men Explanation with Reference to the Context Notes
Reference
These lines have been taken from the poem, “The Hollow Men” by T.S Eliot.
Context
T.S. Eliot says modern man has deprived himself of all the heritage that once marked the glory of his ancestors. He is, therefore, spiritually dead and intellectually paralysed.
Explanation of Lines (1 – 2)
The poet satirizes the modern age and the modern man. He says that man is worthless and deprived of faith and moral strength. Instead of human characteristics, he is filled with useless and worthless material like a dummy. Being a stuffed dummy, he can not perform any positive duty that is the characteristic of human beings.
Critical Appreciation
The metaphor of “stuffed” is used to convey the idea that the modern people are apparently human beings, but their actions are words show that they are ineffective people as they cannot do anything for the good of the world.
Explanation of Lines (3 – 4)
Modern man is deprived of brain and wisdom. His head is filled with worthless material. Modern men are unable to find mutual support. Consequently, they fail to establish any healthy society. They have no brains and intelligence. Instead, their heads are filled with chaff and worthless material. They do not possess moral strength.
Critical Appreciation
The use of exclamatory sign implies the intensity of the abject condition in which the modern people are living.
Explanation of Lines (5 – 7)
Modern men always discuss ordinary matters and talk about unimportant issues. That’s why there is no communication at all. They have no aim and object.
Critical appreciation
We find a paradox in these lines as the hollow men say that their voices are quiet. They mean to say that they do not make any positive use of their language.
Explanation of Lines (8 – 10)
Their unresponsive and meaningless voices are unable to produce any result. Their purposeless and obscure voices are like the rustling of wind in dry gras or lie the sound produced by the rats moving in some underground store-room on the broken pieces of glass. In the same unimportant and worthless conversation, the hollow men are indulged in.
Critical Appreciation
The poet has used the similes of ‘wind in dry grass’ and ‘rates’ feet over broken glass to convey the meaninglessness of the word spoken by the hollow men. The absence of any rhyme scheme in these lines show the absence of meaning and purpose in the life of the hollow men.
Explanation of Lines (11 – 12)
Apparently modern men have human shape but they lack strength of character. They have become callous and possess no worthwhile ability. They are only the shadows of human beings, deprived of true characteristics and traits. They are powerless and inactive people having no warmth and energy of life. Their gestures or expressions are meaningless and impression less. Thei9r gestures are without any intention or willingness. The poet has used many oxymoron in these lines like parlayed force.
Critical Appreciation
The poet uses the oxymoron ‘paralysed force’ to show the ineffectiveness of the hollow men. The absence of any rhyme scheme in these lines shows the absence of meaning and purpose in the life of the hollow men.
Explanation of Lines (13 – 18)
The men of purpose and action who have crossed the borders of this mortal world and entered in death’s world do not remember the hollow men who have gone astray from the right path and have ignored human qualities. Even they ever do not consider them human beings. They consider them puppet and hollow or just stuffed like lifeless things. They consider them stuffed dummies lacking actions and devoid of faith and moral strength. They are experiencing a living death.
Critical Appreciation
The metaphor of ‘stuffed’ is used to convey the idea that the modern people are apparently human beings, but their actions are words show that they are ineffective people as they cannot do anything for the good of the world. The absence of any rhyme scheme in these lines shows the absence of meaning and purpose in the life of the hollow men.
Main Idea of Hollow Men Poem
The poem is a satire on modern man who possesses worthless character. He is faithless, inactive and ineffective. He spends meaningless and purposeless life. He has no aim and direction. He is like a dummy and possesses no human qualities like wisdom and thinking.
Relevant Notes
- 1st Year English Notes
- 1st Year Books PDF Download
- The Hollow Men Poem Short Questions
- The Hollow Men Poem MCQs
