Final answer:
The 'Modernity' in 'The Hollow Men' (1925) by T.S. Eliot is exemplified through the poem's fragmented structure, its themes of disillusionment and paralysis, and the anticlimactic and quiet ending reflecting the era's sense of ineffectuality and existential dread.
Step-by-step explanation:
An end (E) example of 'Modernity' in 'The Hollow Men' (1925) can refer to the themes and elements that reflect the disillusionment and cynicism associated with the modern era. T.S. Eliot's poem is characterized by its fragmented structure, indirect narration, and a sense of despair, all of which are hallmarks of modernist literature. The poem's depiction of hollow, empty men standing in a barren wasteland serves as a critique of the fragmentation of the human psyche and the loss of spiritual and moral certainties that were once provided by traditional structures before the First World War.
One of the most telling aspects of Modernity in 'The Hollow Men' is its exploration of inaction and paralysis, which captures the modern sense of ineffectuality and existential dread. The ending of the poem, with its refrains of 'This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper,' exemplifies the modernist sentiment of anti-climax and the subdued ending of an era that comes not with dramatic fanfare but with a quiet, understated close. This reflects the modernist understanding that grand narratives are inadequate to represent the complexities and disappointments of modern life.
The themes of disillusionment and fragmented subjectivity in 'The Hollow Men' are representative of the modernist impulse to reject the certain and the traditional in favor of exploring the ambiguous, the fragmented, and the subjective reality of human existence.