Who holds Prufrock's coat and snickers?

s famous
dramatic , The Lovesong of
J. Alfred Prufrock, utilizes a number of central
images, allusions
and metaphors to develop the idea that modern life is riddled with anxieties,

and that sometimes, these anxieties result in isolation and paralysis.

After
taking the reader on an intimate journey where he shares his
insecurities, the speaker,
Prufrock, has accepted his passivity at last and
has stopped worrying about when and how to take
action. Earlier in the poem,
he asked, Do I dare disturb the universe? (45-46). Towards the
end of the
monologue, the speaker has, in effect, decided that he does not dare. He says
quite
emphatically that he has seen the moment of [his] greatness flicker
(84). Here it becomes
clear that the time to act has passed, and that it is
too late to do anything about it. After
looking back at the passage of time,
he looks forward and says, And I have seen the eternal
Footman hold my coat,
and snicker,/And in short, I was afraid (85-86). The eternal Footman who

holds his coat seems to be death itself, almost taunting him with a snicker. Thisof
death
suggests that it has been his companion throughout life, holding his
coat as if to serve him,
when in reality it mocks him. Prufrock had spent the
majority of the poem convincing himself
that there would be time to act, and
that it was not a problem that he hadnt done so already. He
comes to
understand that the moment to act has passed, and that in reality death had been
his
companion all along. This realization makes the already vulnerable
Prufrock much more so, as he
admits, I was afraid (86).