The Hollow Men | Significance of the Epigraph
On hearing the name of T. S. Eliot, we remember the ‘Modern English Poetry’. Eliot has shown the hollow thinking of modern society, spiritual emptiness and complications of human relations in his poems. His poem The Hallow Men is a great example of this. This poem begins with an Epigraph, the importance of which is necessary to understand the entire poem of Eliot.
In this article we will know -
✅ What does Epigraph mean?
✅ ELIOT "Mistah Kurtz - He dead" and "a penny for the old guy." Why did you choose?
✅ What is the relationship with Hallow Men poem of this epigraph?
👉 What is Epigraph?
Epigraph is a quotation, phrase or verse written at the beginning of any literary work. It sets the main theme or tone of the composition. Suppose a matter of a great person is written on the front page of a book, the same is called EPIGRPH.
👉 Epigraph of Eliot - two lines and their deep meaning
Eliot started The Hallow Men with these two lines:
"Mistah Kurtz - He dead"
"A penny for the old guy."
The first line is taken from Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, and the second is associated with the British Festival Guy Fawkes Day.
Importance of "Mistah Kurtz - He Dead"
Kurtz, the main character of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, was a merchant of ivory in Africa. He became so greedy and powerful that forgot all the limits of civilization. He eventually dies, and these words come in the novel - "Mistah Kurtz - He Dead."
Eliot wants to tell through this quote that modern human beings have become hollow like Kurtz. There is no spiritual power left in it, nor human sensation. Like Kurtz, Modern Man has also lost in darkness.
"A penny for the old guy." Importance
This line is taken from British Tradition Guy Fawkes Day. Every year on November 5, people remember Guy Fawkes, who conspired to kill King James I and blow away the Parliament. Children ask for money by taking effigies of Guy Fawkes on the streets - "A penny for the old guy."
Here the theme of Eliot’s The Hallow Men is shown in symbolic form. Old Guy is actually like Hollow Men - hollow from inside, without any purpose.
👉 Importance of the Epigraph related to the poetry
The hollow men poem is a satire on humans' hollow thinking and spiritual emptiness. Epigraph deepens this theme of Eliot.
Kurtz's death is the Symbol of Modern human's moral and spiritual death.
The hollow effigy of Guy Fawkes shows that human faith and Hero-Worship is now only formality.
Eliot wants to show that modern society may look shiny from outside, but is hollow from inside. He has no concrete belief, no Spiritual basis left. "This is the way the world ends - not with a bang but a whimper." This line of poetry fully connects to Epigraph and makes the sad situation of Hallow Men more clear.
👉 Why is it necessary to understand Epigraph?
If someone is reading a student or reader the hollow men and ignores the Epigraph, then he will not be able to understand half the meaning of the poem. Epigraph for Eliot is not just decoration, but part of poetry. This is the reason why background knowledge is very important while reading the poems of Eliot.
👉 Why is the poem of Eliot still relevant?
The Hallow Men may have been written in 1925, but the same applies to today's society. People are very active on social media, but have been hollow on Emotional and Spiritual Level. Materialism and superficial glamour has made humans hollow from inside like Kurtz. Eliot's poem and its Epigraph still teach us that Inner Strength, Faith and Spirituality really keep humans alive.
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