Context

Oh, T.S. Eliot, how we never understand you.

When "The Hollow Men" starts, these men are singing as a group. And from the first line (and the title), all we know is that they're hollow—they're lacking something essential. 

Apparently, T.S. Eliot combined the title of a poem by Rudyard Kipling, "The Broken Men," with the title of story by a writer named William Morris, "The Hollow Land" (source). But we also see a connection to Marlow's description of Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness as "hollow at the core." (We promise we're not pulling that out of nowhere: the first epigraph of the poem is a quote from Heart of Darkness announcing Kurtz's death.)

For more deets on the poem, check out our Learning Guide.

Where you've heard it

Any time something is declared in the first person plural ("we are _______!"), you know people will take it up as a mantra. Here are a few examples with "We are the hollow men":

• One columnist wrote, in 2014: "Well, sadly, last week the Senate report on torture officially revealed that 'we are the hollow men'" (source).
• Capital New York called Don Draper a "Hollow Man."
• There was an art installation by Miri Chas with the same name as the poem.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Are you a hollow man? If so, proclaim away!