Final answer:
T.S. Eliot's 'The Hollow Men' depicts futility through the existential despair and aimlessness of the characters. Examples include the anticlimactic line about the world's ending and the description of the characters as 'hollow' and 'stuffed,' signifying a lack of substance and meaning.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of futility or ennui is exemplified in T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Hollow Men' (1925). Here, the sense of despair and emptiness is conveyed through the depiction of the hollow men, representing a lack of substantial purpose or direction. Life and action appear meaningless to them, which is indicative of existential futility.
A brief example of futility in 'The Hollow Men' could be the repeated line 'This is the way the world ends,' which suggests an anticlimactic cessation rather than a catastrophic event. It implies that the world's 'ending' is met not with fanfare or significant action but with a whimper - an embodiment of futility and ennui.
Another instance is the description of the characters: 'We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men,' indicating a void of spiritual or emotional substance that leads to an existence without real presence or meaning, again reinforcing the theme of futility.