Winesburg, Ohio and The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson and "The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot have many similarities between them. Throughout "The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock" themes such as loneliness, regret, loss of youth, loss of innocence, and indecision show up as the song progresses and the man shows his journey. These themes are very similar to those found in Winesburg, Ohio. The grotesques throughout the novel all possess most of these traits. An example of this would be Wing Biddlebaum. He has isolated himself so that he would not be thrown out of town for reasons unknown to him, but his isolation has in turn made him a very lonely person. He experienced a loss of youth and innocence when he was beaten and forcibly run out of town. Despite living in Winesburg for twenty years he has said himself that he was not a part of the town. These things are very similar to Prufrock. At the beginning of the love song he is unable to act because his analysis of his actions steered his mind towards negative thoughts, diminishing morality to an extent. In the next section the juxtaposition of "not enough time" and "always more time" allows Eliot to illustrate the harshness of age, the desire to be loved, and how people will justify being indecisive by saying that there is always more time. In the next section it shows that fear of judgement and exclusion paralyzes people from change. This leads to society, in its effort to police and judge people, often entrapping the same people who judge. The next section deals with the universal fear among people of the unknown in which people are unwilling to follow their dreams in fear of the consequences. The next part has Prufrock pondering what he has done with his life. He didn't go for the things that he wanted because he was afraid of the consequences of his actions and what other people would think. This led to his life being led along by others and not actively going for the things he wanted out of life. At the end of the love song Prufrock shows that people who have low self esteem tend to linger, daydream, and worry about the outcome of their actions until their moment in time was passed and the opportunity was squandered. The characters in Winesburg, Ohio are like this in the sense that they all have low self esteem and seem to waste their time. All that Wing ever does is pick berries and spend time alone. Doctor Reefy spends his time in an office by himself gazing out a window and observing the world around him but never acting in it or influencing it. Enoch spends time with his imaginary friends until they are taken from him and then is lost. These instances show that Prufrock and the inhabitants of Winesburg have many traits in common. They feel that they are oppressed by society and instead of going against it they simply give in and accept their fates.