Individual+Example+2

[|The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot] (click for entire text) And indeed there will be time For the yellow smoke that slides along the street, Rubbing its back upon the window-panes; There will be time, there will be time **To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;** There will be time to murder and create, **And time for all the works and days of hands** That lift and drop a question on your plate; Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea.
 * INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLE OF SYNECDOCHE **

In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. . . . . . **And I have known the eyes already, known them all—** The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall, Then how should I begin To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways? And how should I presume?

**And I have known the arms already, known them all— Arms that are braceleted and white and bare** [But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!] It is perfume from a dress That makes me so digress? Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl. And should I then presume? And how should I begin?

Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?…

**I should have been a pair of ragged claws** Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

   T.S. Eliot's purpose in writing this poem was to explore how the complexities of man are revealed when their insecurities brought on by their obsession with women are analyzed. Eliot first utilizes the synecdoche of "to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet." In this particular line, face(s) is used to represent people. This synecdoche is used to show the speaker of the poem, Alfred Prufrock's jealousy that arises from his obsession with a particular women. Faces are used instead of people to emphasize the physical attraction that Prufrock feels towards the woman. Aggravation can be sensed through this line, as he expresses exasperation towards a particular woman and wants her all to himself. "Time for all the works and days of hands," a synecdoche of hands representing workers, furthers Eliot's purpose because it shows how Prufrock is sickeningly obsessed with the woman, so much so that he would subordinate hard work for her. Eliot uses hands instead of workers to make it clear that it is extremely hard work. Another meaning for the body part synecdoches that Eliot uses are to create sexual undertones by using body parts instead of the general people. Eliot does this once again when he uses the synecdoches of "...I have known the arms already.../arms that are braceleted and white and bare" and "I have known the eyes already..." The image of "white and bare" arms reiterates Eliot's purpose by revealing the sexual attraction that Prufrock feels, which as a result causes him to become obsessed and reveal certain complexities. Eliot paints a picture when he states in the point of view of Prufrock, "arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl." Eliot's continual use of body parts shows Prufrock becoming mesmerized by every action of the woman. Straying from the sexual undertones, Eliot uses a final synecdoche of "I should have been a pair of ragged claws" to further his purpose. Eliot has Prufrock liken himself to not only a crab at the bottom of the ocean, but "ragged claws." This act of synecdoche and language serves the purpose of highlighting the isolation that Prufrock feels in his obsession of the woman. Eliot's use of sexual undertones and images of isolation through his speaker, "Alfred Prufrock", clearly show that the purpose of this poem was to show how man's obsession with women evokes complex feelings within them.
 * ANALYSIS OF PURPOSE **

JBeck

"T. S. Eliot: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." __Washington State University - Pullman, Washington__. 08 Feb. 2009 .