Paying careful scrutiny to the text, make an argument for whether you think the poem suggests the possibility of such communication, or if, as far as the poem is concerned, such a wish is impossible.

The theme of communication or lack of it can be seen in much of Elliot’s work. The speaker simply is unable to formulate his true feelings despite the recipient being a man or a woman. This failure to communicate his feelings is stifling for the speaker. It is a result perhaps a symptom of very conservative society he belongs to and his inability to look vulnerable. The speaker is unable to say what he really wants to; instead we see snippets of Prufrock’s mind like streets, fog, the room….We are never really sure of what is going on beneath the recesses of his soul.