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Leo Wells
Mr. Opachan
English III
6 May 2016
T.S. Eliots Feline Themes
T.S. Eliots life lessons and experiences have been told and passed down for years with
his writing; his life affected his writing through his likeable personality, his experiences, and his
constant drive to improve.
Much of T.S. Eliots writing style spreads joy, as it can be light and playful. The thing
that inspires and helps most writers with expressing their views and opinions is their personality.
Through many interviews, T.S. Eliot is found to be a very kind man. John Lehmann, the founder
and editor of New Writing and of Orpheus, after an interview with Eliot stated that There is
possibly no kinder man in London today than T.S. Eliot (Lehmann). Eliots many connections
and popularity grew as if in response to his accepting personality. His kind and fun loving
attitude can all be detected in his famous book of poems, Old Possums Book of Practical Cats.
The book became so famous that it later inspired Andrew Lloyd Webber to write a musical based
on the book, called Cats. But T.S. Eliot was not a one trick pony, throughout his career several
works of literature, many of them ranging in category or genre, were published in his name.
From the interview, Luhman stated he was astounded to recall that the man who wrote Notes
towards the definition of Culture is the same man who wrote Old Possums Book of Practical
Cats (Lehmann). This supports that even though Eliot let his bright side show, he let his
reflective and political side shine as well, making him out to be a very emotionally balanced
writer. T.S. Eliot was about 50 when he wrote Old Possums Book of Practical Cats, so hed been

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in the business of writing poems since he was about 20. Eliots reputation was known for
keeping a positive attitude and never giving up, he could be described as a young soul in an old
body. Even other poets couldnt help to be fond of Eliot; Ezra Pound (an American poet) is the
one who came up with Eliots nickname Old Possum, which is used in the title of the book,
Old Possums Book of Practical Cats (Beare).
Many people with the same kind of experiences as T.S. Eliot would often have gruesome
and dark outlooks on the world, but instead, Eliot was known for keeping his chin up and helping
everyone else do the same. Even in the times of war Eliot did his best to keep working and to
keep his humor that he expresses in Old Possums Book of Practical Cats. But even then,
keeping a positive attitude didnt always work. Eliot admitted to Lehmann in his interview that
even though he persevered and did his best to keep working during the war, the passion of
writing plays had been destroyed since it became such a tremendous effort to do (Lehmann).
This is very serious as Eliots plays are what had spread his influence of his writing in the first
place. Eliot explains how hard life was during the war, as their was so much tension and fear.
Many men were expected to go out and fight in the time of war. Eliot sensed this expectation and
stepped up to the challenge, but was soon rejected by the U.S. Navy for physical reasons
(Notablebiographies). After that, Eliot expressed the feelings of frustration, purpose, and doubt
in his writings. His literature during this time expressed how he himself was feeling, that was
even if he was writing literature at all, since during war writing became so difficult. Eliots
writing at that time wasnt known for being very light hearted or spreading smiles, but it was
something the readers could definitely relate to during the time of war. Either way, Eliot was
versatile in his work. Other than being a poet and playwright, he was an essayist, a publisher, and
literary and social critic; he was decently experienced in all his job openings that had a

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connection to writing, so there was plenty of work for him to be doing (Notablebiographies). So
although the war had an effect on his writing and work during the war, it never made him give
up.
T.S. Eliot consistently worked all throughout his life to improve and master has styles of
writing. As earlier mentioned, people often times forgot that the person who wrote Old Possums
Book of Practical Cats was the same person who wrote serious pieces of social literature such as
Idea of a Christian Society or Notes towards the definition of Culture. It was a well known fact
that Eliot did not let his writing define him as a person, he didnt think of himself as a master of
just one style of writing, but instead did his best to progress to new and different styles of writing
and literature. When Eliot returned to playwriting after the war he admitted there was no real
appearance of new talent or styles of writing in poetry. In his eyes, he was the only one who
actually improved and matured as a writer, he explained this thought process in his interview
with Lehmann; T.S. Eliot didnt want to repeat what hed already done. He expressed that it
always struck him as very odd the way some poets went on writing in their old age without
advancing to a new style or way of writing and expressing emotion. At that time there were
many American poets and Eliot felt that nearly all of them had spoilt their chances and didnt
care enough to prune or hone their skills as a writer (Lehmann). When someone looks down the
pieces of literature and art that Eliot has produced theyll find an outrageous amount of variety
all at different levels of quality. Eliot put forth very much effort into his writing, whether he was
doing something familiar to his Dr. Seussical personality such as Old Possums Book of Practical
Cats or criticisms of societies that mostly only learned scholars have heard about. Eliot speaks of
his drive to create and improve in his essay, Tradition and the Individual Talent. T.S. Eliot was
the kind of artist who wanted to try new things and to master them; to not be identified for one

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thing only, to reach out and speak in the name of creativity and imagination. Eliot spoke against
the critics and nonbelievers who thought that people should just stick to what theyre good at.
Eliot in many ways with his writing responded with the message: Where is the fun in doing
something youre good at? How is that impressive or inspiring, to only stick to what youre good
at? (T.S.)
In conclusion, T.S. Eliot let his life have an influence in his writing, as he let his
personality show in his writing, he let his experiences shape his style as events occurred and
times changed, and he focused on his constant drive to improve and create new material.

Works Cited

-Lehmann, John. "T.S. Eliot Talks About Himself and the Drive to Create." Nytimes.com. The
New York Times On The Web, 9 Nov. 1953. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

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-Eliot, T. S.. Tradition and the Individual Talent. Perspecta 19 (1982): 3642. Web

-Beare, Robert L.. Notes on the Text of T. S. Eliot: Variants from Russell Square. Studies in
Bibliography 9 (1957): 2149. Web

-"T. S. Eliot Biography." Notablebiographies. Advameg, Inc., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.
<http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Eliot-T-S.html>.