The speaker, like modern man is in too much of a rush to hear, nor does he seem to expect an answer. Throughout the poem Eliot continues to chronicle all the signs of spiritual emptiness in modern society. In part II he begins with a catalog of riches belonging to an unnamed woman. Although the perfumes and riches are acquired in the hopes of arousing the senses they serve only to jade the senses and leave the owner searching for anything that might provide some measure of stimulation or feeling. She even seeks the company of one who will not speak to her rather than be completely alone with her own emptiness.
Sex is reduced to a contest of strategic moves without emotional involvement.
The poor fare no better in the sex game as the poem shifts to the pub scene. It reduces the motive for marriage to the animal desire to reproduce and establishes offspring and the sex act as the only reason for marriage. Both the rich and poor are indifferent to their spiritual emptiness. All their efforts are directed to superficial external rather than internal or spiritual improvements. Part III opens with the wintry emptiness of the Thames.