Winesburg, Ohio and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

There lies a close parallel between the character of George Willard in Winesburg, Ohio, and J. Alfred Prufrock in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. Both male characters face sexual frustration, and disconnect from those around them. In order to describe the disconnect, they both seem to stem from the feeling that they cannot be understood, or they wish to touch or be touched by a woman in some way that communicates intimacy, a need they don’t get from exclusively communicating verbally. At Winesburg, Ohio’s peak, “Sophistication” correctly describes in words what this need exactly is. George wants to “be touched by the hand of another. . . he believes that a woman will be gentle, that she will understand. He wants, most of all, understanding” (Anderson 217). In contrast to the loud, industrious city George's dream wit take him next, George wants a gentler feeling. A more soothing one that comes from a female. Just speculating, the reason as to why he’d think that it would be more accessible coming from a female is the tender motherly feeling females are able to provide. I don’t have a lot of evidence to support that, but generally, woman have been shown in literature to be more in touch with their emotions that man are. Being able to fill the need for something and making it more comfortable to exist in a jarring world leads to understanding. Being able to locate that need, empathizing over how it feels, and being able to fix it is complete understanding. Alfred Prufrock meets the same roadblock of communication when he exclaims that what he has said in an attempt to connect and receive comfort is “not what I meant at all”(Eliot 97). Prufrock, having similar needs and the lack of a leading female role in his life, pushes him to reach out and ask for help. Disconnect follows as he isn’t able to articulate the feeling. This failure of verbal communication shows how touch is the most important mode of understanding, as words fail for both characters when they attempt to get what they want. This leads Prufrock to worry about social pressures, such as his appearance and his manner of speech at parties. George feels awkward around Helen when they converse. With the lack of physical touch, both characters face a difficultly of connection. Since physical touch involves actions, rather than words, it’s hard to understand why it wells up positive feelings like comfort. Both characters rely too heavily on words to communicate what they are feeling. The poem is titled as a love song for some intended. Prufrock is limiting himself from the beginning, as he can explain only as much as his capacity for forming the lyrics will allow. George Willard is a reporter and makes his living off of using words to communicate, and yet he fails at getting what he wants. In “Teacher”, Kate Swift advises that George must learn what people are thinking about, as to what they verbally say (Anderson 145). Because of these two character’s heavy reliance on speech, they are paralyzed from acting out their physical needs. Without engaging people physically, the characters cannot access the primal need for understanding that cannot be understood.