{"id":771,"date":"2016-10-06T14:07:36","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T14:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishlitvictorianmodern\/?post_type=chapter&p=771"},"modified":"2016-10-06T14:07:36","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T14:07:36","slug":"the-hollow-men","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-englishlitvictorianmodern\/chapter\/the-hollow-men\/","title":{"raw":"The Hollow Men","rendered":"The Hollow Men"},"content":{"raw":"http:\/\/aduni.org\/~heather\/occs\/honors\/Poem.htm<\/a>\n
Explanatory Notes not covered in web version\n\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Title: In a sense, \u201cThe Hollow Men\u201d is a sequel to The Waste Land<\/em>, referring as it does to the waste land\u2019s inhabitants, who are \u201chollow\u201d because of their disconnection from a faith that would enrich their lives.First epigram: from Joseph Conrad\u2019s Heart of Darkness<\/em> (cf.). Kurtz was the ivory trader, a hollow man, in the sense that he sacrificed his humanity for the promise of wealth.\u00a0\n\nSecond epigram: The \u201cOld Guy\u201d is Guy Fawkes, who, in 1605, tried to blow up the Parliament buildings in London, as a protest against King James\u2019 anti-Catholic legislation. He is still burned in effigy every November 5, the anniversary of his aborted crime.\n\n\u00a0\n\nPart I: The first lines pick up the image of Guy Fawkes burned in effigy (\u201cHeadpiece filled with straw\u201d) in the form of a scarecrow. He represents the hollow men who live in the waste land of modern society, inarticulate and ineffectual. \u201cDeath\u2019s other kingdom\u201d (line 14) seems almost preferable.\n\n\u00a0\n\nPart II: The hollow men seem to yearn for \u201cdeath\u2019s dream kingdom,\u201d for all its drab and dreary ambience, a better place than the waste land they currently inhabit.\n\n\u00a0\n\nPart III: This first stanza of this part presents a stark vision of \u201cthe dead land,\u201d the \u201ccactus land.\u201d The second stanza suggests hollow men\u2019s inability to pray, to communicate, to make love.\n\n\u00a0\n\nPart IV: The first two stanzas of Part IV continue to describe a desolate world of spiritual blindness and meaningless communication. The \u201ctumid river\u201d (line 60) is likely a compilation of the Thames, the Acheron of Dante\u2019s Divine Comedy<\/em>, and the Congo of Conrad\u2019s Heart of Darkness<\/em>. The third stanza of Part IV seems to offer an antidote to spiritual hollowness, in the form of a vision of \u201cthe perpetual star\u201d (line 63), reminiscent of the Star of Bethlehem, which guided the Magi to Jesus\u2019 birthplace (cf. \u201cThe Journey of the Magi\u201d) and the \u201cMultifoliate rose\u201d (line 64), which echoes Dante\u2019s image of heaven. The star and the rose are in \u201cdeath\u2019s twilight kingdom\u201d (line 65), in opposition to \u201cdeath\u2019s other Kingdom\u201d (line 14) and \u201cdeath\u2019s dream kingdom\u201d (line 30), which offer false hope of salvation.\n\n\u00a0\n\nPart V: The first stanza is a parody of the children\u2019s nursery rhyme, which describes children dancing around a mulberry bush. In the land of the hollow men, the mulberry bush becomes a cactus plant, which echoes the \u201ccactus land\u201d of Part III. The hollow men\u2019s inability to put ideas into action, to express an appropriate emotional response, to express physical love, is referenced in subsequent stanzas. The aborted Lord\u2019s Prayer suggests, again, that it is a spiritual malaise the Hollow Men suffer.\n\n<\/div>","rendered":"

http:\/\/aduni.org\/~heather\/occs\/honors\/Poem.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

Explanatory Notes not covered in web version<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Title: In a sense, \u201cThe Hollow Men\u201d is a sequel to The Waste Land<\/em>, referring as it does to the waste land\u2019s inhabitants, who are \u201chollow\u201d because of their disconnection from a faith that would enrich their lives.First epigram: from Joseph Conrad\u2019s Heart of Darkness<\/em> (cf.). Kurtz was the ivory trader, a hollow man, in the sense that he sacrificed his humanity for the promise of wealth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Second epigram: The \u201cOld Guy\u201d is Guy Fawkes, who, in 1605, tried to blow up the Parliament buildings in London, as a protest against King James\u2019 anti-Catholic legislation. He is still burned in effigy every November 5, the anniversary of his aborted crime.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part I: The first lines pick up the image of Guy Fawkes burned in effigy (\u201cHeadpiece filled with straw\u201d) in the form of a scarecrow. He represents the hollow men who live in the waste land of modern society, inarticulate and ineffectual. \u201cDeath\u2019s other kingdom\u201d (line 14) seems almost preferable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part II: The hollow men seem to yearn for \u201cdeath\u2019s dream kingdom,\u201d for all its drab and dreary ambience, a better place than the waste land they currently inhabit.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part III: This first stanza of this part presents a stark vision of \u201cthe dead land,\u201d the \u201ccactus land.\u201d The second stanza suggests hollow men\u2019s inability to pray, to communicate, to make love.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part IV: The first two stanzas of Part IV continue to describe a desolate world of spiritual blindness and meaningless communication. The \u201ctumid river\u201d (line 60) is likely a compilation of the Thames, the Acheron of Dante\u2019s Divine Comedy<\/em>, and the Congo of Conrad\u2019s Heart of Darkness<\/em>. The third stanza of Part IV seems to offer an antidote to spiritual hollowness, in the form of a vision of \u201cthe perpetual star\u201d (line 63), reminiscent of the Star of Bethlehem, which guided the Magi to Jesus\u2019 birthplace (cf. \u201cThe Journey of the Magi\u201d) and the \u201cMultifoliate rose\u201d (line 64), which echoes Dante\u2019s image of heaven. The star and the rose are in \u201cdeath\u2019s twilight kingdom\u201d (line 65), in opposition to \u201cdeath\u2019s other Kingdom\u201d (line 14) and \u201cdeath\u2019s dream kingdom\u201d (line 30), which offer false hope of salvation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part V: The first stanza is a parody of the children\u2019s nursery rhyme, which describes children dancing around a mulberry bush. In the land of the hollow men, the mulberry bush becomes a cactus plant, which echoes the \u201ccactus land\u201d of Part III. The hollow men\u2019s inability to put ideas into action, to express an appropriate emotional response, to express physical love, is referenced in subsequent stanzas. The aborted Lord\u2019s Prayer suggests, again, that it is a spiritual malaise the Hollow Men suffer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div>