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J.alfred Prufrock And Nic

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J. Alfred Prufrock and Nick Adams

J. Alfred Prufrock is a character in T.S Elliot’s poem, “The Love Song,” while Nick

Adams is the character used by Ernest Hemmingway in his short story, “Big Two-Hearted

River”. J. Alfred Prufrock is a timid, middle-aged timid, overcautious, middle-aged man who

was afraid to take risks. He was a lonely man that believed in love and relationships but was

afraid to take the necessary steps to achieve that desire due to his fear of rejection. Prufrock

represents an individual whose extreme case of insecurity due to low self-esteem, not only

prevented him from being involved romantically involved with the opposite sex, but also with

society in general. The lonely, awkward and depressed live that he lived resulted from his

inability to establish and nurture interpersonal relationships. Nick Adams was a confident and

happy young man that grew up in a middle-class family. Ernest Hemmingway’s characterization

of Nick Adams is that of an individual that was connected to his surroundings and had the love

of friends and family to ensure that he lived a normal live. However, his experiences during the

war changed his perception about life and made him lived the rest of life alone in the company of

his dog. This essay will compare and contrast the characters of J.Alfred Prufrock and Nick

Adams as portrayed by the two authors with the aim to highlight ways in which both represents

the modern day man by using the similarities and differences in their lives.

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Comparison

J. Alfred Prufrock and Nick Adams are both educated men who grew up in societies that

placed great importance on education and the role of men. Education shaped their views and

ideologies about humanity and influenced their social and personal interactions. Nick and

Prufrock both suffer from anxiety, a personality disorder that makes a person to be overly

cautious about the consequences of his actions. In the case Nick Adams, the traumatic

experiences he encountered at the Italian front during World War I affected his ability to interact

with ordinary folks when he returned home from war (Lamb 161). For instance, his anxious

nature did not allow him to interact with other fishermen whenever he goes for fishing without

his friends. The meaningless sufferings and pains that people experience during war changed his

perspective about life, which he expressed in a peculiar through fishing. Fishing to him was a

battle between man and the sea creatures (Lamb 164). The struggles of the fish to avoid captivity

and death in its quest to feed and survive on one hand and man’s hunt for the sea creature as food

meant for physiological and economic survival.

Prufrock’s manifestation of his anxious state is establishing a romantic relationship with

women. The understanding that a woman judges a man by his physical appearance makes him

very comfortable in the companion of women, which results in a state of panic. He confirmed his

inability to establish any form of relations with women when he said “in short, he was afraid”

after he tried “the strength to force the moment to its crisis” and failed (Eliot & Susanne 120).

The innate consolation that he had plenty of time to achieve his desire for intimate personal

relationship further worsen his situation and aggravated his poor emotional state. Prufrock’s case

of personality disorder just like Nick resulted from their immediate society. Scrutiny from all

members of the society about the physical appearance of an individual led to Prufrock

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Surname 1 Name Professor Course Date J. Alfred Prufrock and Nick Adams J. Alfred Prufrock is a character in T.S Elliot’s poem, “The Love Song,” while Nick Adams is the character used by Ernest Hemmingway in his short story, “Big Two-Hearted River”. J. Alfred Prufrock is a timid, middle-aged timid, overcautious, middle-aged man who was afraid to take risks. He was a lonely man that believed in love and relationships but was afraid to take the necessary steps to achieve that desire due to his fear of rejection. Prufrock represents an individual whose extreme case of insecurity due to low self-esteem, not only prevented him from being involved romantically involved with the opposite sex, but also with society in general. The lonely, awkward and depressed live that he lived resulted from his inability to establish and nurture interpersonal relationships. Nick Adams was a confident and happy young man that grew up in a middle-class family. Ernest Hemmingway’s characterization of Nick Adams is that of an individual that was connected to his surroundings and had the love of friends and family to ensure that he lived a normal live. However, his experiences during the war changed his perception about life and made him lived the rest of life alone in the company of his dog. This essay will compare and contrast the characters of J.Alfred Prufrock and Nick Adams as portrayed by the two authors with the aim to highlight ways in which both represents the modern day man by using ...
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