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The Hollow Men Passivity Quotes
(line)
| Shape without form, shade without colour, |
The Hollow Men live in a world that lacks essential qualities of reality. This helps to explain their total passivity and inability to accomplish anything.
| Remember us—if at all—not as lost |
The Hollow Men want heavenly souls to "remember" that as pathetic and passive as they are, at least they were not "violent souls" who committed atrocious and evil deeds. But the poem judges them for being so weak that, even if they wanted to, they couldn't pull off a bold and wicked action. It's interesting that being passive is seen here as worse than being evil.
| Eyes I dare not meet in dreams |
The passivity of the Hollow Men often manifests itself as cowardice. This gives us another excuse to make a connection with The Wizard of Oz: they not only resemble the scarecrow without a brain, but also the "cowardly" lion without a brave heart.
| Let me be no nearer |
Calm down, guys. Trust us – the people from Heaven aren't going to come any "nearer" to you. These lines are just another example of the Hollow Men are like a bunch of poor, wounded puppies.
| Between the idea |
The Shadow is the cause of passivity of the Hollow Men. An "idea" may come into their heads, but they cannot turn it into a "reality" once the Shadow falls. We think of the Shadow as a dark curtain or veil.
