The document provides an analysis of T.S. Eliot's poem "The Wasteland" through the lens of surrealism. It notes that Eliot creates irrational juxtapositions of realistic images, like describing winter keeping people warm through forgetful snow. This challenges readers by not following logical expectations. Eliot also uses mysterious symbolism, like the title "The Wasteland," that the reader must work to interpret. Additionally, the disjointed narrative style resembles stream of consciousness writing, moving quickly between images with little connectivity, mimicking human thought processes. These surreal techniques make the poem difficult for readers to follow rationally and require assessing it on its own terms.

1. Example Paper (Initial Interaction with Theme paper)
The Oxford English Dictionary, defines surrealism as, “Seeking to express the
subconscious mind by any of a number of different techniques, including the irrational
juxtaposition of realistic images, the creation of mysterious symbols, and automatism.” Here, the
OED highlights aspects of surrealism such as contrived mysticism and illogicality. These same
traits translate well my first reading of T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland. While The Wasteland perhaps
cannot totally equate to a surrealist piece, my experience with the text reminds me of that
movement.
Eliot creates the “irrational juxtaposition of realistic images” through his use of language.
Eliot often pairs contradictory or unconventional images in order to describe a single emotion or
occurrence. For example, in the opening stanza of “The Burial of the Dead,” Eliot provides
several images of weather that somehow feel at odds with each other. He says, “Winter kept us
warm, covering / Earth in forgetful snow” (5-6). Here, Eliot merges several images that don’t
make sense. Not often is winter matched with the idea of warmth, especially as the causation of
warmth. Although both images respectively represent a realistic state of being, together, they
prove illogical. Along with these contradictory images, Eliot also connects two unconventional
images. Eliot describes the snow as “forgetful.” Forgetfulness evokes a certain illustration
attached to humanity. Here, it describes snow, a non-human occurrence in nature. While these
images don’t necessarily oppose one another, and they prove realistic individually, they fail to
make sense together. These illogical pairings provide a challenge for the reader. They insure
that the text not flow in a conventional or traceable manner. The reader must work to figure out
the logic behind the piece rather than the piece catering to the standard logical inclinations of the
reader.

2. This illogical imagery enhances the “mysterious symbolism” that occurs throughout the
poem, as that also forces the reader to work for the piece. As the reader, “Mysterious
symbolism” perfectly describes my current relationship with the text as it is still shrouded in
unknowing. I suppose several images as significant, although I can’t quite determine at this
point what that symbolism might represent. For example, the title of the poem proves a
mysterious signifier. Obviously, it refers to something important. At this point in my
understanding, I can make guesses. I can relate it to the several images of death Eliot presents
throughout the poem, interpreting waste as a synonym for decay, and conclude that the title acts
as a symbol for the exploration of death and decay happening in the poem; however, that
analysis proves trite and only attempts to attach my logic to the mystery of that symbol.
Along with the mysterious symbolism, the poem fosters automatism. Automatism strives
to separate the conscious from the writing. This comes across in The Wasteland through the
disjointed narrative style that closely resembles the modernist stream of consciousness. Eliot
moves from image to image quickly. This quick transference of images leaves little time to
develop a logical organization of subjects. For example, the first stanza of “The Fire Sermon”
runs through several images quickly. He writes, “The wind / Crosses the brown land, unheard.
The nymphs are departed. / Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song (174-76). Here, the
images flow together almost as a thought process. Stream of consciousness strives to emulate
the actual thought process, so it eradicates the logical narrative style traditionally perpetuated by
the written word, and replaces it with the illogical formation of human thought. In this passage,
Eliot skips around images as one would think them, quickly with little to no connectivity. Each
sentence provides a scenario that stands alone. The wind and its relationship to the land. The
absence of the nymphs. The flow of the Thames. Each image makes sense alone, and yet they

3. flow together as the short sentence structures allow them to connect. They move as fast as the
brain. Along with the illogical pairing of images and the mysterious symbolism, this form of
automatism proves a challenge for the reader, as they must assess the rational of the narrative on
its terms.