A Hollowed-out Generation

We are the hollow men[i]

we are the stuffed men

leaning together

headpiece filled with straw. Alas!

Our dried voices, when

we whisper together

are quiet and meaningless

as wind in dry grass

or rats' feet over broken glass

in our dry cellar.

 

Written by T.S. Eliot while memories of WWI’s horrors were still fresh, The Hollow Men is a poem in the Modernist style, or so an English prof informed me at the U of A long ago. Analyses of what Eliot was “trying to say” are abundant and easy to find online. To me, it’s a literary masterpiece that employs vivid imagery (“rats’ feet over broken glass in our dry cellar”) to portray the despair and meaninglessness in war’s aftermath, when we’ve together put our spiritual[ii] side to bed in the interest of material survival, leaving us as hollow men.

Reading at a material level literature written at a spiritual level presents a real hurdle to many students. Used to searching out facts about the economy, about world affairs, about local happenings, about the mundane trivia that’s part of daily living can leave us unprepared for interpreting parable, allegory, and imagist writing. And before anyone concludes, “So what, who needs it?” he’d be well advised to give the condition of our world some objective thought. Are we not on a trend toward increasing materialism, and an equivalent decline in spiritual health?

It’s an unmitigated tragedy for Christianity that so many who call themselves Christians idolize a Bible which they misread because they are materially bent, spiritually illiterate. If the current debacle in the USA—where an administration of absolute materialism has co-opted the symbols of Christianity while ignoring its content—isn’t evidence enough of that illiteracy, then the slide toward material emphasis (STEM) in education should warn us that we’re on a slippery slide.

“Renaissance Education emphasizes[s] humanism, classical learning, and liberal arts, fostering critical thinking, individual growth, and a more inclusive approach to learning.”

The definition of Renaissance Education raises questions, obviously, like what is classical these days, or what is the end product of an education supposed to be, today? A Renaissance-educated person grasps the threads that lead from history to the present, and learns much wisdom therefrom. A Renaissance-educated person can distinguish between logical and illogical argument. A Renaissance-educated person has strong language skills, sufficient, for instance, for reading The Hollow Men with comprehension and engaging in conversation about it. A Renaissance-educated person grasps that his life only has real meaning in community with others. Finally, a Renaissance educated person is an insatiably curious autodidact.[iii]

Above all, a Renissance-educated person not only knows who Socrates was, but understands what he meant when he said, “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”

Do click on the link to Poetry Verse in endnote i and feel free to let me know what you think.

gg.epp41@gmail.com

NAICA

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[i] From The Hollow Men: Kurtz, he dead by T.S. Eliot. The Hollow Men - poem by T.S. Eliot | PoetryVerse

[ii] I wasn’t sure what word to use here. Spirit and spiritual are often associated with religious worship, but I prefer a broader meaning, like “Spirit is that which enables us to love others, to feel emotion, to bear pain, to be moved by nature, to love life and fear death, to make and interpret art, to “feel.”  Through material eyes, the parable of the prodigal son, for instance, makes little practical sense. Read through spiritual eyes, it is the entire gospel in a nutshell.

[iii] Self-taught

To thine own self be true...

 

 

In Act I, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius gives advice to his son, Laertes, who is off to school in the city. While teaching the play to Grade 12 students, I often felt that there was great advice there, but that the language barrier stood in the way of comprehension. (English is an evolving language and Shakespeare wrote in what we call Middle English, a stage between Medieval and Modern English.)

I’ve rewritten Polonius’s advice to Laertes (loosely) in post-modern English (sorry Will) in the hope that it will help parents and teachers of young men as they leave home for… whatever. Both a humble obedience to Christ the teacher and indeed centuries of unnecessary conflict make clear that judicious restraint and unflinching idealism are desperately wanted in our world. With what understandings should our graduates embark on their life’s independent journey, and where has Polonius hit—or missed—the mark?

*****

“Why are you still here, my son. The plane is getting ready to board, so get a move on.

               I approve of your going, but I hope you’ll take some good advice with you, so you don’t blow your chances. See to it that others recognize you as one who holds to these vital principles.

               Keep your opinions to yourself, and don’t act on sudden, unconsidered impulses. It’s easy to develop a reputation you didn’t really want, and once established, it’s really hard to get rid of.

               Be friendly, but don’t overdo it.

               When you’ve made some good, trustworthy friends, be the most honest and loyal friend to them, and you’ll form bonds that will never break.

               Don’t waste your time or your money on partying with frivolous greenhorns whose primary objective is sensual pleasure.

               Avoid fruitless quarreling, but when it can’t be avoided, give it your best shot.

               Listen to voices coming from every direction, but don’t add to the ignorance being broadcast, especially on social media. Recognize ill-informed gossip and avoid it.

               Pay thoughtful attention to criticism, but don’t jump to judgment about other people’s actions and conversation.

               Dress conservatively and affordably; true, what you wear says a lot about you, but you will waste your money fruitlessly if you try to dress to project a high or popular standing. You’ll never match the French anyway—they alone know how to pull that off.

               Don’t borrow money, and don’t lend it. You’ll end up losing both money and friends in the process. It’s a sign of poor self management and makes it ever more difficult to match your means to your needs.

               And finally, decide who you are, where you came from and how you want to live your life, and never compromise the ideals that you’ve accepted as right and honourable. Your steadfastness in this will be noticed and rewarded.

               Finally, go with my blessing. Know that you always have my goodwill and support."

***** 

Here’s the speech as Will Shakespeare wrote it into the mouth of Polonius:

Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!