Afrina Aamir

Doc Worth

AP Literature

December 21, 2016

Mr. Kurtz is a Hollow Man Himself

Its very evident to see that the Hollow Men and the Heart of Darkness are related. Hell,
the first line of the poem is a reference to Joseph Conrads book: Mistah Kurtzhe dead
(Elliot, Line 1). From this one line, the insinuation can be made that the poem relates to the life
of Mr. Kurtz specifically, and that insinuation is very true. Many of the things the Hollow Men
feel about themselves and think about their lives indirectly relate to Kurtz from the Heart of
Darkness. There are certain traits in both the Hollow Men and Kurtznamely their personalities
and surroundingsthat are strikingly similar and very easy to spot once an analysis is done of
both pieces of writing.

T.S. Elliot describes the Hollow Men as some otherworldly creatures. They are foreign
beings that perplex people even today, or as Elliot himself put it, they are shape without form.
Shade without color. Paralyzed force (Lines 13-14). Just as their name suggests, they are hollow
and lack meaning in their lives. They are formless beings that float around, their futures bearing
completely darkness. Mr. Kurtz is quite similar to them when thought about. In the book,
Marlow states Kurtz was an impenetrable darkness (Conrad, 64). Kurtz being compared to a
shadow generally implies that he too is lacking meaning. He has no set direction to go in life.
The Hollow Men have a shadow of sorts that keep them from completing their intended tasks.
Its also said that Kurtz has a voice like a shadow in his head that haunted him. It rang constantly
and reminded him of his situation. In reality, the Hollow Men and Mr. Kurtz are so devoid of
human emotion and understanding. Both poem and book have the same line that announces
Kurtzs death, but what the boy in the book doesnt realize is that Kurtz has been dead for a long
time. Just like the men of the poem, Kurtz has been dead in a spiritual sense for a very long time.
Once the meaning in their lives was far gone, they had nothing to live for. Empty vessels are
starkly different than the bustling, alive bodies they used to be.

The Hollow Men live in the dead land, this is the cactus land (Elliot, 41-42). Their land
is empty, to them at least. Their terrain has no relevance to their lives except making them
miserable. The men of the poem are also known to squeeze together in a land devoid of
inspiration. Elliot wrote that their home was the broken jaw of our lost kingdoms (58). There
was truly no hope for the future where they abide. The lives that they lived were in the now, they
had nothing to look forward to and would just continue to suffer until they died, if they even
could. Mr. Kurtzs future is lost in a similar manner. He lives in the African land amongst the
Natives. He prided himself in his success with ivory, but his greed took hold of his life. Money
cant buy happinessnever has a phrase been more accurate in describing the lifestyle of a
person. Mr. Kurtz devoted so much of his life to being successful in his trade that life isnt about
the money. He forgot to remember his good moments and he eventually lost the ability to have
them at all. There was nothing either above him or below him. He had kicked himself loose of
the earth (Conrad, 61). He was so caught up in his riches that it was the only thing he cared
about, he lost himself to the shuffle just like the Hollow Men. Elliot says that the men in his
poem worshipped statues and idols of stone, placed their faith in them. What that means is while
they may worship these speechless gods, their true belief in their savior is fading in the form of a
dying star. Kurtz and his men practically worshipped their source of money, the ivory. It seemed
as if they were praying to it the way the word ivory rang in the air. Because they lived in
meaningless environments, Kurtz and the Hollow Men got sucked into their things. Their
belongings, their properties, the tangible things they could believe in. The focused on inanimate
things that could in no way bring them true happiness and therefore secured themselves a future
with no light.

T.S. Elliot writes The eyes are not here, there are no eyes here. about the Hollow Men.
While this could be interpreted to say that they had no physical eyes, but the concept of
metaphorical eyes is something to consider. On the topic of eyes, Kurtz was said to have cold,
soulless eyes. People could easily look through him and not notice a thing about him. The eyes
are described in this way, because neither the Hollow Men nor Mr. Kurtz wish to reflect on their
lives. Its evident to readers that the lives both of them lead are nothing to be proud of. They are
caught up in their own selves, not paying attention to others or the matters of the world. Their
physical objects preoccupy them and forbid them from doing actions that count toward the
future. Because of this, there are no good qualities in either character, nothing to be proud of, and
no one likes looking back on their mistakes, especially those who didnt think when they made
them. Kurtzs last words were the horror! The horror (Conrad, 73)! He was ashamed of his life
and disappointed in himself. This line is important because it defines his soul and how he hates
the decisions he made that led to his hollow, pathetic existence. Similarly, the Hollow Men do
not want Gods angels (from deaths dream kingdom to view their lives because they were too
abashed by them. They didnt lead meaningful lives and now they were to be subjected to eternal
embarrassment because of it.

There is no doubt that the Hollow Men in T.S. Elliots poem are an emulation of Mr.
Kurtz from Joseph Conrads complex piece of work. Elliot poetically describes the life of Kurtz
in a way that may possibly be more complicated than what Conrad originally wrote. The two
characters share a life devoid of emotion in a meaningless land. The choices the characters make
in their lifetimes are ones to be ashamed of, they were choices that certainly doomed them to
suffering even though they seemed like the correct decisions. They prided themselves on tangible
possessions and forget about their surroundings, the people they were close to, the consequences
of their actions. But despite the clear lessons that these two pieces of work depict to the world,
people dont listen. There are men, women, babies, seniors, countless people who will continue
doing things for themselves solely, not giving a single thought about how their decisions will
affect the rest of the world to the people who associate themselves with them. There will always
be Hollow Men and Mr. Kurtzs around the world, and just like these two characters, they too will
someday realize that the things they thought to be correct are going to lead to their dim future
and suffering. But who can blame them, theres no way to predict the future.