Love Song vs. Winesburg, Ohio

Reality.......some of us love to embrace it while others fear of what it really means. Taking hold of one's reality can be scary; it can be full of unknowns, regrets, and unwanted uncertainty. Our pasts have helped to mold us into the beings that we are today, however, previous actions may not make some as excited to grip reality by the hands as others. The poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", by T.S. Elliot, and the novel Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson, intertwine with one another more than one may think based on the fact that they both shed light on a central theme: reality is the universal fear. Some fear reality to the point where they’re afraid to wake up (allusions of that can be found in T.S. Elliot’s poem) while others simply hide behind their "truth" in life due to the fact that its actual meaning may not be one that they were expecting. Whatever the reason, these pieces of literature help shed light on the idea that one's reality can haunt them if they don’t accept it for what it is and push to move past it.

So these two pieces of literature are obviously similar in there theme, but the way they portray this certain idea is what makes them so special. In T.S. Elliot's poem, the speaker is an old man, and alas, the same goes for Sherwood Anderson's modern novel. The speaker of Elliot's poem even describes himself as someone "with a bald spot in the middle of [his] hair", similar to Winesburg, Ohio, where the very first line of the novel describes the main character as "an old man, with a white mustache" (Anderson 3). The idea of these old men being the speaker of these works gives the writings a nostalgic feeling; their introductions set the tone for the rest of the novel and make one feel as if everything they’re saying/talking about is meant to be heard as some sort of a reflection about the many years of their existence. The writings also both make allusions to women being some form of beauty that they cannot blame for any of the doings that may have been previously done onto them; Elliot's speaker asks the question "is it perfume from a dress that makes me so digress?" while Anderson's speaker states that "the grotesques were not all horrible. Some were amusing, some almost beautiful, and one, a woman all drawn out of shape, hurt the old man by her grotesqueness" (Anderson 5). The reference to woman within these two writings sheds light on the idea of women being the central root of their internal struggles; the battle to decide whether women are a distraction keeping them from what they hope to accomplish or if they're what may have helped guide them throughout their life time is apparent and makes one question the nature of women. Each piece of writing also gives various descriptions of imagery that help make their reflections clear and analytical. Elliot's speaker begins to turn to the allusions of sirens and "human voices [waking him], and he drowns" making one question whether or not he himself is in nightmare (or maybe even lucid dreaming, there's so many different scenarios that fit....) and the idea of waking up to the less than satisfactory reality he's created for himself makes him fearful. Anderson's old man finds some form of pleasure in looking out the windows of his bedroom, and when his bed breaks, leaving him unable to participate in this activity, he becomes upset; his passion for looking out his window almost relates to him looking out into the life that was in front of him, allowing the imagery and citizens down below to help him feel as if he's regained his youth for that moment so that he can reflect on everything he's accomplished once more.

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and Winesburg, Ohio relate to one another in sense that focus on the idea of internal reflection and internal shifts, whether they be positive or negative. The fear of the reality these old men have come to face makes clear of the idea that sometimes the life we are living is not the one we had always wanted and that eventually it may be easier to live out our deepest desires through dreams or strong moments of lucid reflection. Ya feel me?