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What mood or emotional affect is conveyed by imagery using the words dried and dry in lines 5-10 How does it convey a lack of passion emotion excitement lives The Hollow Men T S Eliot?

In lines 5-10 of T. S. Eliot's poem "The Hollow Men," the imagery using the words "dried" and "dry" conveys a mood or emotional effect of emptiness, barrenness, and a lack of vitality. It suggests a state of desolation, where life has been drained out, leaving behind only the husk of existence. This imagery effectively conveys the theme of spiritual and emotional emptiness that permeates the entire poem.

Here are some ways in which the imagery using "dried" and "dry" creates a sense of emotional barrenness:

"Eyes I dare not meet in dreams / In death's dream kingdom": This imagery suggests a lack of emotional connection and communication. The speaker's inability to meet the eyes of others, even in the realm of dreams, hints at a profound sense of isolation and detachment.

"Those who have crossed / With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom": The use of "direct eyes" conveys a sense of purposefulness, but it is juxtaposed with the phrase "death's other Kingdom," implying that this journey leads to a realm of lifelessness and emptiness.

"Remember us"–if at all–not as lost

Violent souls, but only

As the hollow men,

The stuffed men": The speaker's plea to be remembered not as violent souls, but as "hollow men" and "stuffed men," emphasizes their lack of substance, passion, and vitality. The use of "dried" and "dry" in the context of their stuffed nature reinforces the image of emptiness and lifelessness.

The repetition of the word "dried" in line 10 further reinforces this sense of emotional sterility and desolation:

"Shape without form, shade without colour,

Paralysed force, gesture without motion."

Here, the speaker uses a series of paradoxical phrases to describe the state of these hollow men. They have shape but lack form, shade but no color, force but they are paralyzed, gestures but no motion. This cluster of images creates a sense of contradiction and insubstantiality, suggesting a world where everything is reduced to its barest, most essential form, devoid of any emotion or passion.

Overall, the imagery using "dried" and "dry" in lines 5-10 of "The Hollow Men" conveys a mood of existential malaise and emotional barrenness. It effectively captures the theme of spiritual emptiness and the sense of being trapped in a lifeless, meaningless existence.

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