illustration of a woman holding a glass of wine and a man, Prufrock, standing opposite her

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

by T. S. Eliot

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Discussion Topic

Prufrock's Comparison to Crustaceans in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Summary:

In T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Prufrock compares himself to a crab, not a lobster, to convey his low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy. This comparison utilizes Eliot's "objective correlative" technique, using external imagery to evoke Prufrock's internal emotions of loneliness and desolation. The crab's horizontal movement symbolizes Prufrock's inability to progress or connect with others, reflecting his social isolation and desire for solitude.

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Why does Prufrock compare himself to a crab in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?

At one point in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Prufrock claims he should have been born as a crab or some other crustacean :

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

This line is just one instance of sea-related imagery in the poem, giving the reader a glimpse into Prufrock's self-perception.

Firstly, Prufrock's comparing himself with a crab is a showcase of his meager opinion of himself. He repeatedly bemoans his looks, his manners, and his inability to connect with others. A crab is generally viewed as a lowly creature, and so Prufrock appropriately compares himself to one.

The crab's location, the bottom of the sea, can be seen as a metaphor for Prufrock's low emotions or perhaps for his low position on the social ladder. From a slightly different angle, Prufrock's desire to be a crab...

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may signal his desire for solitude, his interest in leaving society altogether. The specific reference to "silent seas" gives credence to this reading.

Additionally, crabs can only move horizontally. Unlike fish, most crab species do not swim and can only walk or run across the seafloor. Prufrock himself is someone who overthinks and cannot express himself properly to other people. Just like a crab "scuttling" about, Prufrock cannot seem to ascend and make a breakthrough in his life.

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How is Prufrock related to a lobster in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?

He is actually comparing himself to a crab in this line, not a lobster. Not only is this comparison a metaphor, but it is also an example of what Eliot called the "objective correlative." That is, in Eliot's words, "a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula for that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in a sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked" (see the link to The Literary Encyclopedia below).

The objective correlative evokes in the reader an emotional response without directly stating what the speaker is feeling.  As one critic has said: "It is a means of communicating feeling, giving the 'internal world' a correlative relation in the 'external world,' and doing so in a way that was definit, impersonal, and concrete" (see the link below).

Eliot uses the image of a crab scuttling across the ocean floor to describe Prufrock's loneliness and desolation without coming out and saying, "I'm lonely." 

There are other examples of the objective correlative in this poem. Visit the links below for more information.

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Interesting question LOL.  T.S. Eliot is using a metaphor here.  Perhaps the narrator, Prufrock, who is very unhappy with his inability to approach women, references a crustacean due to the fact that it is a bottom-dwelling creature, meaning these are the "lowest of the low" sea creatures who eat what's at the bottom of the ocean.  Lobsters and crabs also feed on dead carcasses. 

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