Thinking Activity: The Waste Land

Thinking Activity: The Waste Land

     T.S.Eliot's The Waste Land has been regarded as one of the most important modern poem. The work addresses modernity and the lost connection to high culture and fine art. The poem is full of literary and mythological references that draw on many culture and universalized the poem's theme.

1)  We can say that Eliot is more regressive as compared to Nietzsche's views.

-    Because Eliot tries to find out the solution from different religion of the past.

-   Nietzsche's views seems to more appealing. Because in contemporary time faith in self is more important. We can not depend on any Supernatural power.

-   That is good if one see possibilities of his own self and that helps him to grow so this idea is worth thinking.

-   On the other side Eliot says about looking backward in past. He took past mythologies in The Waste Land Looking back and move forward in future with the help of past that is in one way helpful because that mythologies helps one not to repeat that mistake in future. So, I think, Eliot's views seems more appealing.

2)  Freud and Eliot both are different from their view point.

-    Freud believed in individuality and talk about "primitive instinct".

-    Where as Eliot believe that The Salvation of man lies in the preservation of cultural traditions which in our more mature years lives with greater vigour within us than does primitive if chaos is to be avoided.

3)  In this poem we see that Eliot wrote about many Indian thought.

-    So we can say that he was good reader of Upnishada and also write about that in his poem "The Waste Land".

-   He also taken some words like...

          :) Data- to be Giver

          :) Dayadhvam- Sympathy

          :) Damayta- Self Control

     And in the last he write...

          Shantih... Shantih... Shantih.

So, this concept we can understand that he use Indian concept in his poem 'The Waste Land'.