“The verse in the wasteland. Arrange of different situations and different characters. It is impersonal. It is doesn’t relate clearly and specifically to the experience of an individual. Readers go in and out of reality. ..”
It is a noon class, every Wednesday and Monday, we are kept from sleeping by the hoarse voice of my professor. Actually, I was kept alert and awake by the attempt to understand the Wasteland. It is fragmented- the professor said.
“I don’t get”, then chuckles, “I just don’t get it”.
All these thoughts started swirling and twirling in my head. Why are we finding it hard to understand what Eliot has written? What does he want us to understand? what are we to do?. In the gyre of these thoughts and reflections, something started to come in between, something to clear out the haze that surrounded my vision and way of thinking.
THE WASTELAND IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND BECAUSE THIS DIFFICULTY SERVES A PURPOSE IN EXEMPLIFYING THE COMPLEXITY OF THE HUMAN ENDEAVOR TO GRAPPLE FOR MEANING.
It is the year of 1922, the dust of the war still hangs in the air. The despondency is overwhelming. Uncertainty prevails. It is close to saying that the only certain thing is that nothing is certain. Or is it?
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold
Though the Wasteland was written in Europe, and it written in the aftermath of the First World War. It describes a common human condition by drawing on multifarious images and allusions from different myths, religions, literature and cultures. Ranging from the Far Eastern sermon of Buddha to the Shakespearean plays. This amalgamation of depictions constitute a sense of solidarity in attempting to follow the quest of perceiving the world and its meaning.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
We are all searching for meaning. We all share the same innate striving towards “Truth”. Regardless of religion, nationality, color, gender, and profession. Deep inside there is a voice that is sometimes barely audible and other times it is a loud as a hurricane. The awakening of one’s soul is the awakening of that voice. Coming to age is rising in the morning and hearing that voice. It can be a pleasant one whispering gratitude to God, or glorifying human’s independent perception and will. It can also be a voice of doubt and dark ignorance.
Nietzsche had his take on the matter by saying that we seek the ultimate “truth”, because truth is a useful illusion. It serves the fundamental drive to survive.
AICHA BINT YUSIF 