Death By Water- The Best Part of The Waste Land

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The single best part of The Waste Land, to me, was part IV: Death By Water. Not only was it the easiest to understand (and the only part I really understood), but it was also short, sweet, and to the point. Not to mention the very vivid imagery of his bones being swept away by the current and him whiling away his youth in the whirlpool. The message is also very interesting. The last two lines: "O you who turn the wheel and look windward/ Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you" have two messages. The first is about mortality and the fact that you, like Phlebas, will die at some point. The other message I gathered from these lines is that you should learn from others' mistakes, or in this example, don't do what Phlebas did to get himself drowned.

Also, did anyone else catch in part I where Madame Sosostris drew the Drowned Phoenician Sailor card, and then later said to fear death by water? I thought this was a nice touch that really made part IV even better.

Edit: Commented on Eliza's and Hailey's posts

Comments

Cade Wood said…
I think it is very interesting the points you pulled out of the last two lines of the chapter. I also agree with it being one of the easier chapters to read. It is interesting that you wrote about mortality and basically the understanding that 1/1 people die. I did not catch this when I read, so thank you for explaining it!
January 27, 2020 at 9:26 PM
abbiehedden said…
Logan, I loved your post on Death by Water! It definitely was the most easy to understand and I loved the "aesthetic" of it. It is interesting to think that learning from other mistakes won't necessarily save you from death.
January 27, 2020 at 10:54 PM
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