Final answer:
In T.S. Eliot's poem, the line using 'a pair of ragged claws' is a metaphor expressing the speaker's desire to be insignificant or unseen, similar to a sea creature, which underscores his feelings of isolation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The line from T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", "I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas," is an example of a metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable, but which suggests a comparison between the two. In this case, the speaker, Prufrock, is comparing himself to a pair of ragged claws, which symbolizes a certain lowliness or perhaps a desire to retreat into a silent, unseen existence, much like a bottom-dwelling sea creature. This metaphor conveys his feelings of isolation and insignificance in the context of his personal and social anxieties.