"Death by Water" by T.S. Eliot - Leanne White

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T.S. Eliot is a great writer and the style he uses sets the mood and tone for the stories. “Death by water” has a lot of pairing, and the words are joined by “and” or “or”, illustrating the waves in the ocean and how they flow up and down. Not only does this pairing set the scene, but all pairs are different or contrary things that mean nothing when it comes to death. In other words, none of it matters in the end. For example, “profit and loss” suggests life and death. Other examples would be “rose and fell”, “age and youth”, “Gentile or Jew”.



I commented on Osten Belew and Hailey Morgan's posts

Comments

Hailey Morgan said…
I did not realize that the constant use of "and" and "or" were meant to symbolize the up and down movement of the waves.

This may be a bit dark, but your revelation has me thinking. Perhaps because Phlebas has been drifting in the ocean for so long, all he now knows is the constant beating pattern of the waves. Because of this, his speech and thought processes now resemble the same waves that killed him.
January 25, 2020 at 1:45 PM
Clabo said…
This section was actually my favorite of the poem because of its deep and mysterious style. I mean, it is also probably the most morbid of the sections because it depicts a dead sailor decaying and bobbing up and down in the bottom of the sea. When Eliot says the words, "A current under sea picked his bones in whispers," and then pairs it later on with, "consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you," it masterfully depicts how easily one can go from up to down or life to death.
January 25, 2020 at 4:11 PM
Rachael Gregson said…
Gosh, I love that you compare the lines to the movement of ocean waves! Now, that I think about it, an illustration comes to my mind about how sometimes the ocean can take us farther out than we intended. If we are not paying attention to our surroundings and progress, our own ignorance about our situations and society can kill us. Maybe that's why Eliot did this perhaps?
January 27, 2020 at 3:06 PM
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