The Waste Land Illustrations

While reading The Waste Land and then watching Miranda's video, I kept thinking about what I envision a Waste Land as. I think the images that Miranda included at the very beginning of her video really depict The Waste Land that Eliot tried to portray. I google imaged some illustrations of the Waste Land just to better picture and grasp a better understanding of all that the "waste land" would include. I found the first picture below interesting because of the smoke that seems to be present in the sky. This reminds me of the Fire Sermon and idea that everything is "burning." Also it shows just great destruction and decay, empty of life and spirit. I think that this is definitely what Eliot is trying to point out in his poem, the fact that humans feel empty, helpless, and desperate. The second image below shows the great chaos and mess of the Waste Land. In the corner, there are two humans confronting each other and looking to each other for comfort, this shows the idea how human are desperate for contact and want to reach out to each other, but they are disconnected because of society and their ways, which makes human contact and company unfulfillingWa