It is evident that in the poem, Prufrock is putting something off because of fear of rejection. The poem states,” Time for you and time for me, and time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions before the taking of the toast and tea.” This shows that he is already rethinking choices and possibly changing his mind. Prufrock wants to tell the girl something, but something is standing in his way. It seems like the only obstacle he has to overcome is himself. This portrays a weak sense of self-confidence. He keeps putting off what he wants to say because he does not think that it is valuable enough or worthy of her time, but ultimately he runs out of time. He keeps putting it off and putting himself down and is scared of the results that he does not even want to attempt to tell her. This shows how he doesn’t think that he is good enough. He is standing in his way in terms of his chances with her, and that is what I tend to do with a lot of decisions as well. If he had just told her what he wanted to say, he could have gotten it over with and either been very happy or moved on with his life. The thought of “what if” continually consumes him now because he does not ever want to try to express how he feels. Thus, this “what if” feeling will always linger on with him, and he will never actually know what would have happened if he just took a shot. In most cases, taking a chance is way better than never knowing where you stand with a person and always having a doubt in your mind.
Recently, I saw something that I do very commonly that is very similar to what he does. I noticed that a lot of the time, when I am telling a story or am asked a question, I tend to start with “mine isn’t as good as theirs but…” There is always a thought in my mind of how what I have to say is inferior to everything else that was said and that I will look dumb in front of people. This is similar to the mindset Prufrock has. In life, we can be so hard on ourselves when we don’t even realize it. We don’t always have to hold ourselves up to a very high standard. Sometimes it is okay to fail and try again or recognize that it’s not for you. You’re the way you are, and you feel a certain way, so embrace it. The important thing is though that a lesson can only be learned if you try and challenge yourself and do things you are not necessarily comfortable with. Playing it safe can often lead to a very dull and unfulfilling life. It can be hard to come to terms with that sometimes, and that is why this behavior is widespread in most people.
