Hollow hollow hollow stuffed stuffed stuffed English AP is so tough

I am exhausted. I should stop working so much and focussing on extracurricular activities. The stress is literally eating me alive, but I know I need to stay strong. Bills don't pay themselves and stress doesn't relieve itself, right?

I can't stop thinking about The Hollow Men. No matter how many times I've read it, the meaning is still a blur to me, and I don't think it's because I'm a complete failure in the field of poem analysis. I'm finding a hard time coming to conclusions because my thoughts endlessly contradict eachother. I can't entirely blame myself for that though, because the first section is all about the contradictions. "We are the hollow men, we are the stuffed men." Great. "Shape without form, shade without colour, / Paralysed force, gesture without motion." Awesome, that's fantastic. Now what the hell does that even mean, Eliot? I love the device of paradox, but currently it's not my cup of tea. I've also noticed TS Eliot's combination of "soft" and "harsh" words. "We whisper together / Are quiet and meaningless / As wind in dry grass / Or rats' feet over broken glass / In our dry cellar". What's the purpose of all these oppositions that make everything so confusing? What's the purpose? Is the confusion Eliot's way of telling me that, perhaps, I'm not the only one whose confused? Are the men, hollow and stuffed, in the same boat as I am?

My brain hurts.

Just a few questions before I'm able to get some Zzz...

Are all of these sections still in the perspective of the Hollow and Stuffed Men?

First section:
First of all, who's Mistah Kurtz? Why are these men Hollow or stuffed? Are they referring to two different groups, or are they the same group altogether? What is Eliot's purpose of all these opposing words?

Second section:
What are these kingdoms? What is this star? Why does Eliot once again mention the wind?

The third section:
What happened to death's dream kingdom? Why are the speakers now taken to the dead land, the cactus land? Again, what is death's other kingdom? These lines that capture most of my attention, "Waking alone / At the hour when we are / Trembling with tenderness / Lips that would kiss / Form prayers to broken stone.", what do they mean?

Fourth section:
The speakers are now taken to the valley of dying stars. Why? What has happened that caused them to move? Why are the kingdoms now lost? Now there's a twilight kingdom? Is that heaven or is heaven the dream kingdom? Why does Eliot now refer to the men as empty? What has happened to cause this transition?

Fifth section:
Why does the opening of this section appear so familiar and start in italics? A shadow is mentioned that falls in between multiple things. What is the shadow? Why is there this shadow? For thine is the... what? Why does the world end this way? What is "this way"? Why is this section also in italics?

I'd like to say good night to the hollow and stuffed men, but I know I'll be seeing them more in my dreams (kingdom).