Life Is A Game of Chess: The Waste Land, sections I and II

When you read a poem for the second time, not only are you able to grasp its meaning better, but pay attention to all the small details. The first time I read The Waste Land I was only able to comprehend the main idea and some literary devices and symbols used throughout the poem; however, when I read its first two sections for the second time I noticed that, already knowing the general meaning, I could now focus on the smaller details with more ease.

I still agree with the ideas I expressed in my previous entry which, as I can see now, are actually a little vague. I mentioned how the modern man was lost in a world that, apparently, seemed to have no meaning. As I read section II, A Game of Chess, I realized how T.S. Eliot contrasted the lives of the rich and the poor:
“From satin cases poured in rich profusion;
In vials of ivory and coloured glass…
‘What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?
‘I never know what you are thinking. Think.’… (lines 86-87, 113-114)
The setting in which this excerpt takes place is a rich person’s home. The reader can observe that, at the end, a character questions the thoughts of another individual, but is unable to decipher what he/she is thinking. The excerpt concludes with the word “Think”. I believe that this may actually be an appeal to the reader, telling him to think about the world, about his fate, about the purpose of life in a crippled and destroyed earth. A similar tone of despair and disillusionment is present when Eliot talks about the poor. I believe that he may be suggesting that all of us inhabit a world that has no conscience.

I also paid attention to the titles of the sections, especially that of section II, A Game of Chess. This actually reminds me of the film The Seventh Seal, in which the chess game symbolizes the game of life. I believe that by using this symbol, Eliot is trying to invoke a feeling of apprehension in us, the readers to try to make us reflect about the way we are living our lives.

I also noticed that there are many more literary devices that Eliot uses in a very subtle manner but which manage to have a great impact on the reader. For example, on line five Eliot juxtaposes the ideas of winter and warmth. Later on, in lines twenty-for and twenty-five, he repeats the words “red rock”, an alliteration. These objects represent real-life situations that, in one way or another, condemn man to a meaningless existence. In lines fifty and fifty-five, he uses symbols like the wheel and the ring to represent life and its cyclical structure. He may be trying to emphasize that life repeats itself, and that the events that are occurring now or that have occurred in the past will certainly occur again in the future. Eliot may be trying to say that, independent of what we do to preserve peace and order, wars will always occur; therefore, a macabre and pessimistic view of life is obtained, complemented by the imagery and word choice of the entire poem. In line sixty-seven, Eliot mentioned the “…dead sound on the final stroke of nine.” This allusion makes reference to Dante’s Inferno, probably suggesting that the end and eternal pain are near.

These literary devices, along with the rhyme and meter of the poem, manage to create a special effect on the reader. I did not notice any sort of rhyme throughout the poem, except in lines eleven through sixteen, written in iambic pentameter:
a “Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
a And when we were children, staying at the archduke’s,
b My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,
c And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
b Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
c In the mountains, there you feel free.” (lines 11-16).
I wonder why, out of all the lines in the poem, Eliot decided to make these rhyme. Are they significant in some way? Do they conceal any hidden meaning?