Wasteland by TS Eliot :: essays papers

Wasteland by T.S. EliotThe driving force of all life is procreation and re-birth. For mankind,vegetation, the animal kingdom, the survival of the species is thedominant factor and only the fittest survive. For millennia, differentraces ease up believed that the fertility of the land depended on thesexual potency of their ruler or favour of their gods. Pagan, Roman,Greek and other gods have been invented who were believed to controlthe fertility of the land, such as Ceres, the Roman goddess ofagriculture, on which the survival of their populations has beenbelieved to have depended. Various superstitions and religions havefurther developed and become significant factors in the lives ofbillions of the worlds population. The Waste Land takes these themesand portrays a jobless land that lacks the fertility and sexual potencyneeded to sustain and progress life. A land void of what is needed forre-birth. The 4 life-giving elements Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Earth is barren Air is turned t o brown fog Fire burns Water drowns. Thesexual imageries are unproductive sex is present as a obscenefunctional device but lacking of the necessary fertility. Superstitionsare turned to by the society in search of the answer in the form oftarot cards and religion is a constant thread as evidenced by therecurring Biblical references and themes.In The Burial of the Dead we see that he adds us an image ofthe Earth as sterile, instead of being the foundation ofvegetation. It is only a repository for the dead. Earth is the1st. of the 4 natural elements. These 4 possibleness lines echo theApril, root, Lilac/flower, and rain/shower imagery ofthe 4 opening lines of The General Prologue of ChaucersCanterbury Tales. These lines are reflecting the image of lifeand death. Rain ordinarily nurtures and strengthens plants and sustainsthem, but here we see that life even with water is slowly dying andwasting away. He later goes on to say that the trees will give noshelter and the crickets, no relief. This line comes from Ecclesiastes125-7 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, andfears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and thegrasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail because man goethto his long home, and the mourners go about the streets. Or ever thesilver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher bebroken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.