The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot - Assignment Example

‘The Waste Land’ In the poem, Eliot laments on the damage and ruin made on the modern culture and she seeks the redemption in the cultural past. The poem revolves around the main theme of modern life as a waste land. He supports this theme by showing what went wrong with the society during the short comings which she talks about during the beginning of the 20th century. The short comings include corruption of life water symbol, fear of death and life, lack of communication and corruption of sex.

According to Eliot, water was a traditional symbol and an indication of life. This is because the humans are believed to exist as a result of evolution of fish. Most religions such as the vegetarian cults considered water sacred and a source of life. But in the people of waste land have lost the ancient belief. Elliot says the people have corrupted the symbol of life and turned it into something that is feared and not revered. An example of this is the Phoenician sailor who died as a result of drowning.

This certainly shows that water no longer signalled the basis of life to him anymore. The protagonist was advised to fear death by water and because he lacked faith he believed that water meant death.The people in waste land also had problems with efficient communication. This gets depicted by the hyacinth girl. She showed she was unable to speak and as a result she could not communicate with the protagonist. The lady of situation asked the girl to speak to her (Eliot 10). She wanted to communicate but she was unable to because she did not know how to.

Elliot also suggests that the people cannot communicate because of their selfishness and pride which hindered them from understanding each other.Another major theme that has been forecasted on is that of corruption of sex. Many examples are given in the poem by Eliot. This can be depicted when the persona in the poem describes a lady who has undergone a lot in her life. In the poem, there is a creation of a certain scene known as a Sylvan scene that is above her mantel on display. This scene is used to describe a change In Philomel, who had been physically abused and raped by the husband of her sister, King Tereus.

Her sister was known as Procne. It is written in line 102, “And still she cried, and still the world pursues” (Eliot 5). This is an example of forced sex that goes against the wishes of the women’s dignity. It also nears towards breaking of the family ties because the gross misconduct is performed on her by a relative, who happens to be the husband to her sister. A second corrupted sex scene is observed in a scene conducted in the pub. Albert is a man who is overcome with the desire to satisfy his sexual desire and he does not consider the status of the person he will use to satisfy himself.

He is also ignorant on the fact that the wife might die during her child birth process. A friend of his also blots out and does not care of this fact. The lustfulness of Albert has to be quenched and this therefore makes women be viewed as objects of sexual harassment.Works CitedEliot, Thomas Stearns. "The Waste land." Pennyslyvania State University (2014): 1-18.