“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is one of the most successful early poems of T. S. Eliot. In this poem Eliot expresses the sordid and waste world which shows no possibility of salvation. The method of salvation or the salvation itself is symbolized as the “overwhelming question”. The question of salvation is overwhelming not only because the speaker of this poem cannot deal with it properly but also it cannot be solved in this waste world. The world is sordid, turbulent and waste, and human beings in this world are alienated. Eliot’s sense of alienation has its root in his early life, social activities, leaving America and acquiring British citizenship. This alienation is expressed in this poem as the impossibility of expressing his own thoughts and communicating with the women. The speaker even wishes to lead an animal life. The speaker’s wish to be lower animals indicates that the world is in the lowest level of existence. The speaker’s wish to save the world is expressed as the action of going to the women. What the speaker aspires is the true communication with the women not only on the physical level but also on the spiritual level. The communication will put an end to the alienation and save this world from its sordid and waste situation. Though the speaker’s wish isn’t fulfilled, we understand the “overwhelming question” is connected with the salvation of the world.

Ⅰ. 들어가며
 Ⅱ. 현실인식
 Ⅲ. 압도적인 문제
 Ⅳ.  마치며
 인용문헌
 Abstract

• 최희섭(전주대학교) | Hie-Sup Choi