"" (Millay, 1182) She tries to tell the reader that life itself is nothing and death is just a witness to the absurdity of life. Consequently, stating that death is only merely a transition of the conscious mind to food for the maggots can be rather offensive to the dominantly god-fearing public. Millay's goal was not to offend the reader but to shock the reader into challenging their beliefs. She led the reader in with her flowing beautiful language and forced them to open their minds. Millay's use of existentialism in her work outlines a search for integrity of the individual spirit. .
Alienation is also a key element to modernism. T.S Elliot's poem "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock- portrays a man that is pathetic but not grand enough to be tragic. Prufrock is an insecure man trapped behind bars of daily routine that he created for himself. He describes his setting as dreary reflecting the desensitizing force of the city life and puts himself down saying "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use, Politic, cautious, and meticulous; Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; At times, indeed, almost ridiculous " Almost, at times, the Fool."" (Elliot, 1363) Prufrock feels alone in the world; he feels as if he is an outcast, although he goes rather unnoticed everywhere he goes. .
Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening- depicts a character that is a bit more sensitive than Prufrock but equally as alienated. The character stops in the by the "lovely- yet "dark and deep- woods on the darkest night of the year to watch the snow settle between the trees. The woods signify his solitude and leaving the woods signify returning to his world of obligations and hardships. He is torn between these choices.
