In T.S. Eliot's poem The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot contrasts his straw-filled
hollow men with the "lost violent souls" of Mr. Kurtz and Guy Fawkes.
Mr. Kurtz is a character in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. T.S. Eliot is
saying that it is better to have met death and to have strong opinions than to
sit idly and remain stagnant. Both Eliot and Conrad are portraying the general
society to be decaying. The hollow mean are in a state of stagnation. They can
neither choose life nor death and are therefore damned to a life where they will
waste away to nothing. The hollow men are said to live in a gray, bleak
wasteland full of cactus. This idea contrasts with Conrad's use of symbolism in
Heart of Darkness. Joseph Conrad portrays images of stark white and black.
Joseph Conrad is saying that there were only extremes being the civilized and
the uncivilized. Mr. Kurtz was trying to be a go-between for the civilized and
the uncivilized societies of England and Africa. Mr. Kurtz became depressed and
essentially devolved. In this sense, Conrad is saying that there is no middle
road. In The Hollow Men, the straw men are unable to choose which direction they
will take and wait for a sign. The settings for the two works is different as
well. In Heart of Darkness the setting is the Congo. The surroundings are lush
overgrowth of trees and other plants. There is water everywhere, especially
depicted by the river. In The Hollow Men, the setting is a bleak desert full of
only scarecrows and cactus. There are references to eyes in both works. The
direct eyes are said to be guide. Mr. Kurtz had burning eyes which symbolized
how the horror of his actions eventually killed him. In The Hollow Men, the eyes
are eyes of decision and direction that the straw men lack and do not wish to
see. Joseph Conrad portrays that there is evil inherent in everybody. The
Manager was the epitomy of evil and yet he survived. Mr. Kurtz became savage.
T.S. Eliot says that it is better to be one of these characters than to be a
straw man who believes that "this is they way the world ends/Not with a
bang but a whimper."