What is the “overwhelming question” in Eliots the love song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
The overwhelming question is what is going to happen to this world? We have just had the first world war. Millions have died. The world just doesn’t seem like a safe place anymore. J Alfred Prufrock is afraid for the future. He wonders if it is even worth getting up and getting dressed anymore. He wonders how long it will be before the “yellow smoke” (mustard gas) will slip in through his windows. Remember this is modernism and the key to modernism is fractals. Things have broken into pieces. He wonders if things will ever be put back together again. The overwhelming question has to be “Do I Dare?” J. Alfred’s answer seems to be no. He is just too afraid. My answer would be YES!
