Themes and message

The main themes of the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot are inaction and its consequences, along with that of time and its passage. The poet shows through the voice of the speaker, J. Alfred Prufrock, the way some people with a lot of potential fail to achieve it because they are overwhelmed by the world they live in which makes them feel small and insignificant, and the way these types of persons eventually become paralysed because of their fears and lack of confidence. 

Consequences of inaction

Inaction or passivity is the main theme of the poem. All through the poem, we discover a speaker who has desires and dreams, yet fails to act on them because he deems himself inferior, unworthy and a failed person. The more he remains passive and stalls any initiative that could bring him closer to winning the woman he loves or achieving any other heroic goals, the more inactive he becomes. The speaker tricks himself into inaction by repeating to himself that he has all the time in the world ...