Author Dr. Irwin Edman opens his 1920 book Human Traits and Their Significance by noting that throughout civilization “two factors have remained constant” (ix). One of these factors is “the physical order of the universe” – or Nature – and the other is “man's native biological equipment” – or human nature (ix). Together, these two ideals have shaped modern civilization: as Dr. Edman says “there is nothing new under the sun. Matter and men remain the same” (ix). Since the beginning of time there have been essential human traits – innate and distinctive qualities – common to every society and historical period. This commonality is shown nowhere better than through characters in literature. Literature has the ability to reflect the society in which it was written, and by examining this literature, readers are able to discover the universal human traits displayed by the characters. American writer TS Eliot became famous in 1922 for his poem The Waste Land. The poem was highly regarded for its “poignant expressions of the alienation and desperation” of the time (224). Eliot is considered a master at portraying “stagnation and estrangement” (225). In his early masterpiece “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” composed around 1911, Eliot “deals with a middle-aged man's anxiety about the passage of time and his own aging” as he reflects on the meaning of human existence (Longman Anthology 225) . Prufrock's main character is critical of his own society and focuses on the passage of time in his life. Prufrock examines the passage of time in lines 23-34, in a similar way to Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:And indeed there will be timeThere will be time, there will be timeTo prepare a face to meet the faces you will meet;There will be time to ...middle of paper......end of all civilizations.Works Cited"Altruism". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2011. Merriam-Webster Online. April 19, 2011. .“selfishness”. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2011. Merriam-Webster Online. April 19, 2011. .Eliot, TS The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The Longman anthology of world literature. Volume F. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2004. 224-228. Hadot, Piere. The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. tr. by M. Chase. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998. Edman, Irwin, PhD. Human traits and their social meaning. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920.Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. The Longman anthology of world literature. Volume F. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2004. 257-288.