k eventually states the inevitable. He admits to being “Almost, at times, the Fool.” With this confession, his pride crumbles and he surrenders to the realization of his mortality. The very next lines emphasize the gravity of this new awareness, “I grow old… I grow old…” Here lies the turning point of his worldview. Prufrock once had “Time to turn back and descend the stair,” but now time is running out. Throughout the poem, Prufrock’s concept of time changes. Initially, he takes time for granted: There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; There will be time to murder and create, And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate; Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea. There are two significant incidents in the poem that cause Prufrock to alter his view on time. The first is when he asks the question “Do I dare / Disturb the universe?” Immediately after posing this question “…there is time [only] For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse”, implying that he realizes his time is limited. Second, he comes to the understanding that he plays the part of the Fool, which arouses the realization that he is almost out of time. This awareness leads him to the “Overwhelming question”: What happens after time runs out? Fingers entwining about his very soul, Prufrock’s neurosis leads him again and again to peer into the face of death. He has “…seen the eternal Footman hold [his] coat, and snicker.” In short, he was afraid. “The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase” are the eyes of God c...
