Monday, February 14, 2011

The Fire Sermon

Eliot always has profound titles for his poems, and so I decided to look up Fire Sermon tonight. Originating from Buddhism, the Fire Sermon preaches about achieving liberation from suffering through the detachment from the body, the senses, and the mind. Thinking back to my sophomore year and the tortures of World Religions, I remember Buddhism placed a large emphasis on the roots of suffering and the solution to our suffering. The Four Noble Truths basically claims:

1) life leads to suffering
2) suffering is caused by craving
3) suffering ends when craving ends
4) reaching an enlightened state through following Buddha’s path liberates you from cravings.

During the first two parts sections of Waste Land, Eliot criticizes the state of society and the immorality that has ensued from sin. In The Fire Sermon, Eliot expands on these sins by relating them to the “ultimate” wasteland. This wasteland is cold and wet, blasting wind through its piles of garbage. Although I would associate a wasteland with the image of a desert, a desert has heat and energy and movement. Eliot’s wasteland however has only garbage and the occasional twitch from a rat. This wasteland is desolate and is completely frozen in place. Similar to the past sections, this wasteland connects to modern sins and cravings that contradict the Nirvana that is achieved through Buddhism. I noticed a few items in particular that he criticized indirectly.

“empty bottles = drunkenness
“sandwich papers” = gluttony
“silk handkerchiefs” = wasteful extravagance
“cardboard boxes” = poverty
“cigarette ends” = addiction
“the sound of horns and motors” = technology
“brown fog” = pollution
“Old man with wrinkled female breasts” = sexual digression (transexuality, homosexuality, etc)
“Stockings, slippers, camisoles, and stays” = sexuality

All of these symbols are cravings of modern society that deviate from the natural state of man and are corruptions of the human mind. I find it interesting to isolate the aspects of society Eliot found troubling. However, I have yet to discover the purpose of these poems and their connections to one another, apart from simply stating what is wrong with the world.

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