Contradictions In The Life Of Wilfred Prufrock

As the poem goes on, a question is continuously brought up but never proclaimed. As a result of Prufrock’s self-consciousness, he contradicts the expectations of typical male behaviour and does not ask the question. Eliot suggests that Prufrock’s inability to make decisions and his insecurities prevent him from being social and leave him in a state of isolation. Additionally, time is repeated throughout the poem. Prufrock states “[t]here will be time” (32) to ask the “overwhelming question” (16). In contradiction, there are more chances for “a hundred indecisions/ [a]nd for a hundred visions and revisions” (38-39). Time puts pressure on Prufrock and raises his level of self-consciousness. These insecurities restrain him from asking the unknown