This shows uselessness and boredom The city is without spirit and it reflects the emptiness of Prufrock s own mind Yellow Fog The image of the yellow fog creates a sense of barrenness Eliot shows the fog brushing its back against the window glass The smoke moves weakly like a tired cat Instead of giving energy it spreads dullness and waste The air feels heavy dirty and lifeless This lifeless fog covers the city and reflects Prufrock s own tired spirit The picture of the fog becomes a symbol of futility and decay The following lines support this point perfectly The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes Time and Indecision The poem shows an atmosphere of futility and barrenness through wasted time Prufrock repeats There will be time there will be time He believes there is always more time to act Yet he never acts He only feels a hundred indecisions And for a hundred visions and revisions He keeps asking Do I dare but he never dares His life passes in delay and doubt This waste of time makes his life empty and barren Life Measured n Coffee Spoons Prufrock s own words show futility He says I have measured out my life with coffee spoons This is a clear picture of emptiness A human life should be measured by love action or achievement But his life is measured by a small daily habit He admits he has known the evenings mornings afternoons but all are meaningless The voices he hears are only dying with a dying fall These words create an image of a wasted and barren life Fear of Aging and Death Prufrock also fears age and death He sees his bald spot and thin arms and legs He knows people will laugh at him He says I am no prophet and admits his weakness He has seen the eternal Footman hold my coat and snicker The Footman stands for death and it mocks him Even dreams cannot help him He hears mermaids singing each to each but he adds I do not think that they will sing to me This hopeless image shows his final despair In conclusion Eliot builds an atmosphere of futility and barrenness by showing the dull streets the lazy fog wasted time trivial habits and fear of death Prufrock never acts and never finds love or meaning His world is lifeless empty and hopeless In this way the poem becomes an accurate picture of modern emptiness