Eliot and Hemingway's “Waste Land”

To Eliot, the wasteland is an uninhabited world, meaning: though people live amongst one another, humankind is void of connection and we are all isolated from one another, God, and the world around us. To Eliot, those who live in the wasteland live there without love, which leads to depression and a loss of hope. Religion has broken down and people do not know where to turn.

In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Prufrock has the loss of hope, which Eliot is trying to convey. Prufrock says, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons” (1310). Therefore, he feels a sense of hopelessness, in which he is wondering how he will be able to make a significant difference in the world because of how he has chosen to live his life. Prufrock wants to marry, but not because he is in love. He wants to marry because that is what is expected of him. Presently Prufrock is isolated and alone; and although he will not be physically alone if he marries, he will still be spiritually alone because he will be living without love. In lines 73 and 74 Prufrock realizes that he is just a scavenger, “I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas” (1310). Therefore, he is insignificant to the world.

Similarly, Hemingway gives a slight insignificance to Nick in his story “Big Two-Hearted River.” Hemingway wrote, “He felt a reaction against deep wading with the water deepening up under his armpits, to hook big trout in places impossible to land them…. In the swamp fishing was a tragic adventure” (1528). Had Nick chosen to go off into the swamp, he would have been powerless to survive. Throughout the story, Nick is isolated and alone. In the one place there should be a human connection for Nick, the town of Seney, the nearest civilized area, nothing remains but the blackened remnants of a fire. It is charred with only the foundations to the buildings left alone. Though Nick seems at peace with nature, he is not one with nature; he does not blend in with nature. He pollutes the air with is cigarette smoke and the river with his cigarette butt. Nick rips away and into the vegetation, which surrounds him so he can be more comfortable. Furthermore, the imagery of the barbaric way in which Nick kills the fish shows that he cannot live with nature without destroying nature.

Although Nick and Prufrock are physically present in the world, they are disconnected from a connection with others, God, and nature. The men are void of true emotion and lack the love to save them from the wasteland they are not only part of, but also they help to create.