ited to his looks. He's indecisive and unsuccessful in his attempts to communicate with other people, repeating "visions and revisions"(33) and "decisions and revisions..."(48). Eliot uses repetition here to emphasize Prufrock's alterations in behavior to please those around him. He wants to speak out and share his thoughts but doesn't have the courage saying, "'Do I dare?' and, 'Do I dare?'"(38). Possibly, he's asking if he should dare "and drop a question on your plate."(30) He wants to ask a lady out but again he can't get up the nerve to take that step. He is a bit melodramatic but he realizes the enormity of the odds stacked against him and he drones, "Do I dare/ Disturb the universe?"(45-46). In this case Eliot uses hyperbole to show the reader extent of Prufrock's insecurities. They are his whole "universe." Once again, Eliot uses the device of ambiguity to reflect the internal struggle in Prufrock and lead the reader to ask himself or herself, "What is the 'overwhelming question' that Prufrock is asking?" Unfortunately even Prufrock himself doesn't exactly have the answer.His declaration that he isn't a prophet indicates Prufrock's view on his position in society, which he is as confused about as everything else. He isn't poor but he doesn't really fit into the upper class either. Eliot introduces the idea of Prufrock being caught between the two classes in the very beginning of the poem, when he juxtaposes the images of "restless nights in one-night cheap hotels/ And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells"(4-5) with the women who "come and go Talking of Michelangelo."(13-14). These two images represent two completely different ways of life. The first image is of a dingy lifestyle - living among the "half-deserted streets"(4) while the second is the lifestyle that Prufrock longs to be associated with. It is much like the image of Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel where Adam is reaching ou...
