Friday, February 10, 2017
transformation is reincarnation
The idea of eternal life through reincarnation is very prevalent in Eliot's The Waste Land. Reincarnation relates to the Biblical concept of Heaven and other religious concepts of afterlife. It also involves the fertility of the land because of the hope that the land will be restored to its previous fertile state. The inclusion of Tiresias relates to the idea of transformation because he was turned into a woman and then back into a man. This state of being in between a man and a woman is very similar to the in between state of Purgatory. Transition as it relates to Eliot's time period and background frequently comes up in Eliot's allusions. Therefore, transformation and reincarnation go together to prove Eliot's criticisms of the time.
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I think the bible allusions are used as another means of prophecy an predicting the future. We see tarot cards an other future predicting items such as a fortune teller which shows they have great significance. The Bible could also be used to reference the Christ figure because the wasteland needs a savior. We see this through the use of the hanged man and the wasteland needs someone like Jesus to restore it back to its original state.
I think Eliot depicts the waste land in a sort of in between state, approaching death but not completely gone. The rebirth motif calls for a renewal or complete transformation of society. The allusions to the Bible and to Tiresias are clear indications, along with allusions to The Grail. In the Grail, the Fisher King is searching for a hero to save the land from infertility. The waste land is also searching for someone to be its savior and to issue in new life.
Infertility is a major motif in Eliot's poem. This is reflective of the 20th century society post-World War I. Through the use of Biblical references, pregnancies/abortions, and the connection to water, the reader is able to connect Eliot's points which ultimately state his viewpoint of the world as a desolate, hopeless wasteland due to the detriment of the war. He does offer up some solutions and optimistic viewpoints in part V of the poem, but overall I feel as that he leaves the reader with a conflicting sense of how to perceive humanity.
While The Waste Land offers many instances of transformation and rebirth, it also shows several examples of decay and death. We can see this most easily any time a landscape is described, but also in the relationships of the characters, which seem shallow and empty.
I think it also relates to the state of being in between life and death. Eliot describes the people as almost zombie like. The war created this atmosphere.
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