T.S Eliot and Winesburg, Ohio

The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a t. S. Eliot poem filled with juxtaposition which highlights the speaker's insecurity that comes with old age. The poem has a variety of parallels with Sherwood Anderson's novel Winesburg, Ohio, such as the whole idea of a story teller and a listener. Throughout the poem, the speaker addresses the reader directly, inviting us to come along with him in the evening and advising, "Do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit". This idea of a listener is seen in Winesburg, where a young boy named George Willard seems to know all the town secrets. He knows of the hidden pasts of others, the inner thoughts of their hearts, similar to how J. Prufrock pours out his insecurities and wonderings to his listener.
Also present within the poem is the idea of a timid man trapped within society. There is a significant amount of imagery that suggests a feeling of entrapment, similar to Anderson's novel. Passage two of Eliot's poem says

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening

This passage seems to create an image of a cat, a lonely animal, which depicts an isolated stage. Cats are known to keep to themselves, symbolizing loneliness- one of the most prominent themes within the novel Winesburg, Ohio. Sherwood Anderson depicts a town many of the individuals suffer from isolation, wishing that they would find somebody that understands them. Enoch, an artist that lived within the city, is the main character within the short story "Loneliness" in which he fills his void for an understanding companion with imaginary friends. In the poem, the yellow fog is clouding up the windows, representing the concealed speaker. Within Winesburg, windows are a reoccurring motif within the novel, since the majority of the characters are trapped in their pasts, left stagnant. There is an emphasis on the young, like George Willard, and old, like his mother Elizabeth. The  idea of the passage of time comes up as J. Alfred Prufrock remarks upon the troubles of old age. He is insecure about getting old, fearful of others seeing his balding head as he walks down the stairs. There is also an allusion to the Bible with the passage that parallels Ecclesiastes 3 "there will be a time for" this and "a time for" that. Eliot displays how quickly life can pass us by, pondering if it "would have been worth it" to do all the things he could have done. Overall, the Love Story of J. Alfred Prufrock and Winesburg, Ohio are very similar in the characters portrayed and in the effects of time on a human in our society.

In what is supposed to be a love song, J. Alfred Prufrock depicts his isolation and insecurity caused by society in a gloomy and almost morbid way, with "voices dying" and a "dying fall". This juxtaposition of our expectations and the reality within the poem is similar to life- our expectations of youth are cut short by the reality of aging and a broken society.