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Theme Of Water In Heart Of Darkness

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The Wasteland, written by T.S Eliot, was shortly written after Eliot read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Both authors uses symbols in their texts to create a connection to life, death, fear, and self-reflection. Conrad and Eliot both use the symbolism of water in their texts to create the meaning of life and death. In Heart of Darkness, the symbolism of water is used to create a new life. In the beginning of Heart of Darkness, Marlow asks if his “fellows remember… {when he] turned into a fresh-water sailor” (Conrad 70). As he goes into detail of his story about being a sailor, he is watching “flames glid[ing] the river” (Conrad 70). Marlow worked for The Company which allowed him to travel using water. The water allowed Marlow to self-reflect …show more content…

T.S Eliot uses the symbol of water to extract life and not beginning a new life like Marlow did. In line 342, the “spring rain” brought life to the wasteland, but the wasteland does not let anything grow. The lack of rain does not let new life to be created, showing the water is a necessity for life. In section four, Death by Water, a man died by drowning in the water that was in the sea. In the Wasteland, there is barely any water, but this man “passed the stages of his age and youth”, dying by “entering [a] whirlpool (Eliot 317). This means the whirlpool, or sea, caused his death. Eliot is trying to make the audience aware the life and death are fearful. The water is fear; for example, as a man “passed the stages of his age and youth” by water creates a meaning that life should be feared because death comes along with it (Eliot 317). Also in section five, What the Thunder Said, it states that there “is no water but only rock.” The Wasteland tries to explain that since there is only rock, life cannot be created and life already in The Wasteland will not survive for long. Eliot twists the expected symbolism of water which is life, but Eliot uses water to show there is no life. As this is done, Eliot tries to connect with water throughout The Wasteland. Eliot’s message by seeking water, but there is none shows that The Wasteland seeks a living source but a living object cannot make it through The Wasteland. Since there is no …show more content…

Although life may not be created in The Wasteland, the symbolism of water in Heart of Darkness allowed life to be created. Both authors used this symbol of water so the audience could gain knowledge about it’s usage throughout each story. Water was created in the story to have a connection with life or death. The usage of water from each author let the audience gain knowledge about the real meaning behind the story by using water as a symbol throughout the

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