Anthology of Modern American Poetry - Book Report/Review Example

Hugh Kenner’s Review of Elliot’s Poems Introduction Hugh Kenner, with his twisted poetic and intrinsic form of writing, is one of the world’s legendary writers. Most of his books concerned advancement to a modernized form of literature. He is said to have dominated over literary property within three decades of the 19th century in England. His writings are said to involve its reader in the moment and shade a reality as though it were happening. He is said to have had an intrinsic vivid momentum of writing as though he had gone through the events of his writings. All of which were based on imaginary events and characters. Elliot Observing is but one of his many books, through which he dwells on the evolving of mankind to time managing robots. This article will be discussing in a clear and concise manner the meaning depicted by the book Elliot Observing. Hugh Kenner’s analysis and interpretation of Elliot and her poems Hugh depicts Elliot t have the character of an observer. Elliot observes the life changing aspect of time in the 21st century. In his view, people are more than often growing into time managing maniacs who have managed to constrain their lives including hours of sleep or time of the day to sleep. He depicts how the life of men has shifted from simple family and work relations to focus more on work than family or social lives. The office becomes the comfort zone of the basic working man. He says that from the moment one starts school life, the essence of time is what drives them up to the moment they start working until they die (Eliot 52). He believes that in the 21st century people are pushing themselves to extremes by minding what others expect of them. They forget about what they want for themselves and focus on maintaining a high image of respect and admiration amongst peers. Elliot describes the life of a prelude, by prelude he means a working man in desperate need of maintaining a high standard of living. This need makes one work up to nine jobs a day. As a result people end up lacking a sense of personal social relations. He referred to such a situation as that of a “pipe smoking lonely man”. As one continues, you would realize that these are poems Regarding Elliot’s continuous life experiences and observations. Observations of how men are becoming time driven workaholics, him included. Elliot talks about how despite working for long hours he still constrained in his spending. He concurs to this by reason of being at the top regarding society’s impression of class. This forces him to choose other means of commuting to work which are rather very queer. Elliot tries to relate his poems to those of the Yeats, whose poems were written in the period of industrial revolution. She elaborates on how her writings have been engrossed by the trending concepts of time and its construing factors this was in contrast with the Yeats whose writings were never influenced by emerging trends. She proceeds to discuss on how the evolutionary engine world changed the old England from farming and horse riding for transport (Bloom 128). She enshrines the change with the fact that every invention paved way for the invention of another. She further explains how with time work became easier and transport simplified but at the same time it started getting even more complex. Elliot who was an observer, moved to compare the now large cities of New York and London. She realizes that as much as the distance may part them, these large cities have in common. Elliot moves further to incorporate “the wasteland” one of her poems which depicts the issue of crime, insecurities and injustices ongoing in the modern world (Eliot 233). This poem describes crime and how it is degrading the morals of the modern society. She elaborates on how the crime rate of modern man’s life is more sophisticated and occurring more often than in the old days of horse riding and goat rearing. Connection between Kenner and Elliot In my Opinion Elliot is an imagery of Kenner. All Kenner was writing was with regard to his life experiences and observations. The simplistic continuation of the poems makes one whole complete narration. This narration happens to be in line with Elliot’s life experiences as they are written in connection with what Elliot was experiencing or observing. On the other hand, every poem seems to be a buildup of its title. From the first line the poem starts giving a portion and builds up on what would be clear at the end. This way the reader would be able to grasp every bit of occurrence and have an even broader understanding of the message of the poem upon completion. Reflection of observation Elliot’s impression of man being a time constrained being is an immediate definition of today’s society. Elliot’s example of himself working up to 9 jobs in order to make ends meet is exactly what is happening today. Life has become so competitive under the minimum resources available; this makes it even more expensive. What Elliot describes as underground travelling is similar to what we call subway stations to which many have been enslaved to commuting. She describes today’s generation as being workaholic and senseless to social and family relations. I, on the other hand don’t take the issue of being a workaholic and time management slaves for granted, as most have been forced to this kind of lifestyle because of the sacrifice and willingness to tend to those they care about (Bloom 154). So yes, from young adults to old age the issue of time management is stressed on because life has become expensive and in order for one to get comfortable they are forced to be at par with time and outdo the rest in the exploitation of the minimum available resources. Elliot also explains that even in that bit of rush and successful sustainment there still are the weeds amongst society. These unfruitful few tend to cause havoc within society who are constantly trying to take a shortcut to success (Badenhausen 77). For this I completely agree with her for crime has been a challenge to any modern society. Elliot shows that with time what a person may have deemed wealth will be lost. This is evident by fact of death, people are in constant movement and busy working in order to earn wealth forgetting that none of what they have will go with them to their graves. The issue of unhealthiness is rather evident to date in the life of any human being, this is as she depicts in the poem “Ash Wednesday”. Does Elliot fail to recognize the simplistic need of technology? That man has been assisted by technology to achieve more? Despite Elliot’s Egoistic writings regarding the modern man and his being influenced by time management, Elliot fails to realize that not all people today have been engrossed by the modern ways. Amongst the many ever rushing citizens there are farmers who produce the greens and grains that those from the city purchase and need as a basic life requirement. Elliot fails to realize that yes the world may be modernized but not all live in the modern ways of underground travel or early morning coffee lines. Is it right to assume Elliot’s closed mind and full focus on the issue of time and technological laziness? I do not agree. According to her writings Elliot describes the issue of time as though it were a punishment for men. She describes the life of the modern man as being senseless and robot like due to the constant daily routines (Eliot 74). However, the other side that she fails to realize is that despite the daily rush and deadlines to meet; these are very kind and loving family breadwinners. Despite all the busyness most manage to be home for dinner with their families and friends. So, I do not agree with the issue of men being time management freaks and ending up alone. T.S Elliot: The Waste Land Elliot’s waste land poem was written at the end of the world war, when many cities had fallen and were beginning the process of rebuilding lost infrastructure and mourning lost loved ones. All these are depicted in the poem including the major aspect of technology and industrialization (Badenhausen. 80). Elliot stresses on the advancement of technology and at the same time the deterioration of human dignity. In my opinion, this poem was meant to act as a form of critic to industrialization and its effects to the general society. Throughout the poem, there seems to be some zapping of a radio frequency and its mixed up unclear frequencies. Elliot also used this mix up to show how the society of the time was still disorganized. However, the most important form of technology focused on is the engine. However, Elliot uses the engine as a metaphor. In the poem Elliot refers to the working person as a ‘human engine’. This is evident at the beginning in the lines when introducing the character Tiresias: At the violet hour, when the eyes and back / Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits / Like a taxi throbbing waiting,” (Eliot 293). Here she directly degrades the human laborer to as low as a throbbing taxi. Elliot explains that the constant routines and long working hours is depriving them of their human nature and turning them into engines that are constantly working. Eliot characterizes the “automatism and machine conditioning of modernization as the main contributory cause of the collapse of the human nature of the modern man. Conclusion In conclusion, Elliot is a person who is not agreeing to the advancement of technology. She admits its existence but does not accept it instead she only sees the negative implications of modern technology. For that, I am forced to have a divergent opinion and attitude towards modern technology. Works Cited Badenhausen Richard. T. S. Eliot and the Art of Collaboration: London. Cambridge University Press. 2009. Print Bloom Harold. T.S. Eliot's The waste land. New York: Chelsea House, 2007. Print. Eliot, T.S. “The Waste Land.” Anthology of Modern American Poetry: London. Oxford University Press. 2000. Print Read More