“the Human Engine Waits”: the Role of Technology in T.S. Eliot's the Waste Land

First published in 1922, T.S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land is a major work of modernist literature. Written in the aftermath of the First World War, Eliot’s poem describes the disorganization and collapse of society. In recounting this, the poet covers a wide variety of topics, incorporates many different images, and encompasses manifold languages and cultures. One major theme that Eliot treats in detail is the role of technology and industrialization in the downfall of Western civilization. Unlike earlier modern poets such as Walt Whitman, Eliot uses The Waste Land to draw connections between the mechanization and technological advancement in everyday life and the degradation of human dignity. In this way, Eliot’s poem can be read as a criticism of the Industrial Revolution and its effects on society. As Eliot radically juxtaposes these images of modern industrial society against allusions to mythology, he uses the disjointed and chaotic structure of The Waste Land to demonstrate the difficulty of finding meaning in the modern world.

The basic structure of the poem exemplifies this notion that technology has contributed to this fragmentation of society. Critic Juan A. Suárez argues that Eliot tries to mimic a sound recorder in his writing style in The Waste Land. Connecting Eliot’s poem to sound montages created by experimental artists in which various sounds from radio broadcasts and recordings were spliced together, Suárez writes that “Eliot’s poem itself is based on zapping through a sort of prerecorded literary archive which seems to be kept on the air at different frequencies” (757). The Waste Land’s structure is rooted in machines. The technology subverts the established social order; the frequencies of the high and the low are recorded side by side without any clear differentiation. As Suárez notes, “Once the channels are open they carry any and all sounds […]” (764). The voices of kings are equated with those of the working class; modern technology has... [continues]

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