Which line in this excerpt from "the love song of j. alfred prufrock" by t. s. eliot uses synecdoche? shall i say, i have gone at dusk through narrow streets and watched the smoke that rises from the pipes of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? i should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

In order to answer this question, we need to make sure we understand the terminology in this question. Let’s make sure we know the meaning of the word “synecdoche.” This word is more of a figure of speech. It’s in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa. Now that we know the definition of synecdoche, let’s take a look at which line best fits for the definition.

Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets'
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?

These line doesn’t really match the definition of the word synecdoche. There is no part which would represent a whole, and it doesn’t really have that figure of speech context to it. It’s more of basic poetry line.

Let’s take a look at the next line.

I should have been a pair of ragged claws

I’d say this line is a good fit for the word synecdoche. Here, the word claws could represent an animal or something of the sea. Claws could represent a Lobster or some type of Crab. So, this line here could be the answer, but there’s one more line left, so let’s take a look at that one before we jump to a conclusion and say this is the correct option.

Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

This line does not match the definition of the word synecdoche. This line has no representation of figure of speech and there is no part in which a part would represent a whole of something.

Since lines one through three and five from the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot do not use synecdoche this leaves us to see that the correct answer here is  I should have been a pair of ragged claws.

- Marlon Nunez