Neither Living Nor Dead: The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

T. S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land conveys the modern man lost in a world that appears to have no meaning:
“Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water.” (lines 20-23).
Not only is this poem long and difficult, but like other utopia/dystopia texts, it portrays a society that is crumbling over. In my opinion, T.S. Eliot uses the symbolism of a crippled and ruined nature to refer to the modern world. The pessimistic tone of the poem contributes make the reader feel depressed and lost in a meaningless world. Like Kurt Vonnegut, Eliot is trying to appeal to society in order to promote change. Submerged in a world of confusion following the wars, T. S. Eliot, like most other authors mentioned, is expressing his feelings of hopelessness in a meaningless world. I believe that this is the reason why the author uses different languages throughout the poem.
“Frisch weht der Wind
Der Heimat zu
Mein Irisch Kind,
Wo weilest du?...
Quando fiam ceu chelidon-O swallow swallow
Le Prince d’Aquitaine á la tour abolie…
Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.” (lines 31-34, 428-429, 432).
Employing a variety of languages makes the reader feel confused in a disoriented world that has no apparent purpose. It actually reminds me of the tower of Babel, which led to the creation of the languages of the world and subsequent confusion and separation of the people. Maybe Eliot makes references to this Biblical event to try to express his grievances against the wars that occur in the modern world and how these have created absurd divisions and enmities among countries.

I also noticed that, in order to make his point, Eliot uses a pessimistic style throughout each of the five sections of the poem. Many of these verses make reference to nature and the devastation of man.
“I will show you fear in a handful of dust” (line 30)
This line caused a great impact on me not only because of the great use of imagery, but also because of the strength its words possess. This is a great example of “le mot juste”. I also noticed that, by making references to Genesis, Eliot is implying that the handful of dust is really man. The sentence “I will show you fear in a handful of dust” is really saying “I will show you fear in mankind”. T.S. Eliot is therefore portraying a devastated humanity which, apparently, lives in a world of constant dread, emptiness, and nothingness.

T. S. Eliot uses various literary devices to convey his ideas. For example, in lines 140, 167, and 168, the phrase “HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME” was repeated. Besides, it was written in capital letters. I believe that by the use of these literary devices, Eliot is trying to emphasize the figurative meaning of these words. “HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME” may not be a message to Lil, but to humanity in general.

Like many of the works we’ve studied this year, The Waste Land is an allegory. The stories of other people’s lives are actually reflecting the reality of our world and our lives in the same way that nature represents destruction. In section V, What the Thunder Said, Eliot makes references to water. He talks about a barren landscape and the absence of water.
“If there were rock
And also water
And water
A spring
A pool among the rock” (verses 346-351)
It is important to notice how short verses and repetition emphasize the word “water”. I believe water can either symbolize life or, in a more Biblical approach, the loss of faith. I remember that the Gospels talked about how Jesus’ faith led him to be able to walk on water. The absence of this liquid, therefore, may symbolize the absence of faith and hope. Thus, this excerpt is also tied to the underlying theme of the poem: the existence of man in a world that apparently has no meaning or purpose.

These ideas of disillusionment and disorderliness are further conveyed in the rhyme scheme of The Waste Land. Although the length of the lines varied, I discovered that the entire poem is written in iambic pentameter; however, there is no pattern in the use of accented and unaccented syllables, either (NOTE: the capitalize syllables are accented and those in lowercase are unaccented):
“APril IS the CRUElest MONTH, BREEding
LIlacs OUT of THE dead LAND, MIxing
MEmory AND deSIRE, STIRring…” (lines 1-3).
By repeating two accented syllables, interrupted by a comma, Eliot emphasizes each of the verbs. The pause and the interruption of the iambic pentameter highlight the importance of the words “breeding”, “mixing”, and “stirring”.

The only place in which I found a brief rhyme scheme was at the beginning of section V:
a “AfTER the TORCHlight RED on SWEAty Faces
b AfTER the FROSty Silence IN the GARdens
a AfTER the AgoNY in STOny PLAces…” (lines 222-224).
All of these lines have 11 syllables; however, I do not think that this orderliness has any figurative meaning. I think that by using a constant pattern, Eliot manages to emphasize the words “After the”, repeated at the beginning of each verse. If these lines did not have the same number of syllables, the entire effect the repetition causes on the reader would be destroyed.

It is amazing how every little detail in The Waste Land is aimed at trying to portray a devastated, meaningless world. The use of language, rhyme, symbolism, and other literary devices manages to create an effect on the reader that, along with the pessimistic mood of the text, makes the him/her question themselves about their existence. Our universe, as depicted by T.S. Eliot, is barren, insignificant, hollow, meaningless, "neither living nor dead". (lines 39-40).