Dilemma of Modern Man expounded by T.S.Eliot in "The Wasteland"

No Fear in Handful of Dust

The modern man returned disappointed. He could not commit suicide due to the gadget devised by him. The sensor had suggested him to read “The Wasteland”. The book had caused anxiety in him. He went for suicide since he found the life aimless and purposeless. After reading the book he was confused.

How the same act if done for procreation or for love is justified and is of high moral values, and condemned as a symbol of spiritual decay if  done for pleasure. Since the author did not have any convincing argument to support his Theory of Spiritual degeneration”, he had randomly picked up scriptures of mystic Eastern, to provide a solution which was already known to the entire civilization. The concept of Da in Brihdaranyak and “The Fire Sermon” in Buddhism did not match with dialectic and didactics of modern man.

The modern man had a comfortable relationship with his girlfriend. After living together for last two years, they found that they were not intimate enough to perform the act.

So Modern Man was of opinion that the author of that monologue was obsessed with sex.  In 430 lines verse, at many a spot, modern man thought, he could read the mind of Poet even though his spokesman was Tiresias. The poet had devised some new sounds the exact meaning of which were obscure, but were led to the vulgar representation of the act.

And still she cried, and still the world pursues,

jug jug to dirty ears. (V. 100)

Twit twit twit

Jug jug jug jug jug jug ( V. 200)

Only a cock stood on the rooftree

Co co rico co co rico(v.390)

Weialala leia

Wallala leialala (v. 280)

Modern man did not believe in experimenting with phonetics and linguist, especially by a poet.

The narration of episode of Typist and Clerk was disgusting. The typist gave herself with total indifference and apathy.

Exploring hands encounter no defense;

His vanity requires no response,

And makes a welcome of indifference. (V. 240)

In the opinion of Modern Man such indifference in the act was admirable.

The elaborate preparations which were once prerequisite of idle man and woman to perform the act were neither affordable nor tolerable.

The stories narrated by the three daughters of the Thames are abominable. The Modern Men had refined taste so far as art was concerned. He did not find the description was in good taste.

Undid me. By Richmond I raised my

knees

Supine on the floor of narrow canoe.

No one who wants to reject the act itself would use such lucid descriptions. Modern man found such erotic imagination despicable. Also, it was quite a distorted version of ‘Gotterdammerung’( The Rhine-daughters). Moreover, it is more shocking that Thames-daughters found their loss of chastity as inevitable.

He wept. He promised “a new start.”

I made no comment. What should I

Resent?(V. 300)

The description of the third daughter was a shock to Modern Man.

I can connect

Nothing with nothing.

Modern man was in search of such electromagnetic waves that can connect nothing with nothing. It could be quite tedious to establish such a relationship.

Modern Man could like only one line in the poem.

“Shall I at least set my lands in order?”(V. 420)

That could have been a nice beginning.

The Modern Man was about to throw away the book, When The Ape Man came. He saw the book in the hand of Modern Man and laughed hysterically. The Modern Man was surprised that The Ape Man knew about the book. He felt humiliated and told the whole story.

Ape Man told the Modern Man that he had read the book superficially. Eliot said "At bottom: that is great way down; the bottom is the bottom."

Modern Man could not understand how an Ape Man could understand such a complex dilemma that he was facing.

Ape Man continued "Beneath all Beauty and Ugliness lies Fear or Boredom." (Tweet This)

Can't you see the fear and terror in 'Marie', Hyacinths girl and Madame Sosostris ? They all are scared of 'handful of dust' or crop of corpses. Fear is the key that operates Unreal City.

Hooded Man in Unreal City

Modern Man had no fear in his mind. So he had failed to understand the poem and its implications.

Ape Man could read his mind. He said "Fear is for us, for you it is Boredom. You went to commit suicide out of boredom."

Ape Man was about to explain boredom when he heard a roar of lion and eloped in the jungle. 

He asked Modern Man to contemplate about Mr. Prufrock while departing.

Mr. J A. Prufrock as symbol of Modern Man:

Mr. Prufrock in the poem “The Love Songs of J. A.Prufrock” by T.S.Eliot is also a symbol of Modern Man.He suffers the same dilemma which all the modern men suffer.

“Do I dare ? and do I dare?” is the anguish caused by a mental conflict. He is constantly forced to suppress his desire to act on natural instincts. His psyche is governed by Artificial Society which is the society of inhibitions and taboos. Modern Man wants to be rational and rebel against the irrational society but he is caught in the trap of his own mental make up which is framed by Artificial Society. He thus accepts his defeat and finds a cowardly escape in camouflaging his elemental passions behind the mask of being gentleman.

“Time yet for a hundred decisions

And for a hundred visions and revisions”

Modern Man has no paucity of time. He is not worried that time is fleeting. He is puzzled by immovability and timelessness of time. Geoffrey Bullough comments “ all wars are same war, all love making the same love making, all home coming the same home coming”.

Modern Man suffers from fear that is ecstatic. The thunder should awake a fear, but modern man due to ecstasy is unable the read the massage of  moment of thunder to surrender, release and wellbeing.

Another dilemma of Modern Man is of “folded double lie”. One is romantic lie of “Self Love” which is biggest hurdle on the path of “Universal Love”, second is “lie of Authority” which comes from State or Collective Man,neither of them really exist.

W.H.Auden in his poem September 1,1939 has given the final massage “We must love one another or die”. Though he was not sure about this doctrine and found it impracticable and deleted from the poem. This shows the importance of “Agape” if  you prefer theology.

No one exists alone. The future of entire human civilisation depends on application of Agape universally. Modern Man is blinded by Eros and though he talks of Agape but in reality neither he believes in it nor acts to implement it.

Modern Man thinks that a great poetic work was possible even if he did not believe in “Original Sin”. “The Fall” is not historic one time phenomenon but a continuous process for human civilisation.

© Vipin Behari Goyal

Advocate, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, India

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Men will never be equal to Women

Negative Feminism

Havelock Ellis 

Wollstonecraft and Virginia Wolfe had a great vision. They knew the direction in which the society was heading. They talked about issues which will remain relevant for many centuries to come. The saga that started with demand of a room of one's own, has not come to an end. Every strong thesis has an equally strong antithesis. Feminism does not have any antithesis. Neither Masculism  nor Egalitarianism serves the purpose. Anti-Feminist is, one who does not subscribe to Feminism. Feminism is a theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes and covers all organized activities to claim the right, and protect the interest of women. My antithesis of Feminism is Negative Feminism. "Negative Feminism is protection of the right and needs of Men. Some important components of this theory are as follows:

1. Masculism-

This term is still unknown to the dictionary. Though an ambiguous page on Wikipedia says that it is the advocacy of the rights and needs of men. In case of women it is ‘right and interest’ while in case of men it is ‘right and needs’. This explains a lot. The women are already standing at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. They are searching for identity, which in a way is self-realization or self actualization need. Men on the other hand, are striving to fulfill their physiological needs. The responsibility to earn a square meal is on his shoulder. He is supposed to work hard and earn all amenities for his family. The society condemns a man who fails to do so. On the play 'Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman commits suicide when he fails to provide facilities for his family. He had one dream; to fulfil the dreams of his family members. On the other hand, in the play ‘The Doll’s House’ by Henrik Ibsen, Nora Helmer deserted her husband and three children just because her husband refused to take the blame of forgery she had committed. Either way, it is the man who is a sufferer if he fails to fulfil expectations of  woman from him.

Women lack genius and genuine morality, men lack passion and compassion, for these qualities they have to imitate each other.

2. Bachelorette

The female counterpart of the Bachelor is Spinster. Now a single unmarried woman is called Bachelorette. Spinster is woman past the usual age of marrying and is considered unlikely to marry. So a male spinster is still waiting to be christened. We need to acknowledge the psychological needs of the man who is past the usual age of marriage and is considered unlikely to marry. Why famous artist like Voltaire, Beethoven, Leonardo Di Vinci and Henry James chose to remain celibate? Why an imaginative genius child is retarded by a dominating woman in his life ? Women may be classified on the basis of their relationship with men. Prefix of Miss and Mrs. defines their status and thus availability but men have been denied any such privilege. Virginity also defines a women, but no parallel word is coined for males of the same species. Man has constantly been ignored, since he has no platform to raise his voice. While the word prostitute and whore have ancient origin the word gigolo was coined in 1920.

3. Literature in appreciation of female beauty

Voluminous literature has been created in praise of female beauty. Some characters like Helen and Cleopatra have become immortal, though it is not sure if they were really beautiful. Males have received no such praise even from female authors. Female authors have never revealed if they are attracted by the physical attributes of a male. They pose that character is more important for men. In ‘Joseph Andrews’ by Henry Fielding, Joseph writes a letter to his sister Pamela. He writes"chastity is as great virtue in a man as in woman”, and vows to preserve it at any cost.Men deserves better attention from women writers. We need more female writers to write about physical beauty of men and his sufferings if he chooses to remain chaste.

4. Henpecked Husbands

Havelock Ellis in his book "Psychology of Sex" said 95% male masturbates and rest tell a lie. The same is true for henpecked husband. All married men are henpecked in some way or other. Either they are proud of it or they are ashamed of it. This is an eternal suffering. Nagging is said to be the birthright of women.This is high time we make certain law to protect rights of henpecked husbands.

5. Cuckold Husbands 
The definition is funny, but not the situation.

William Congreve in his famous play "The way of the world" has shown deceit among upper class English households. Fainall complains "My wife is an arrant wife and I am a cuckold...".A cuckold husband is more despised character than a whore. There is a complete genre of man which is grossly condemned by society. Pimp is one of them. We have stories about famous harlot and prostitutes but nobody has written about pimps who made them famous.

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1. The gender of God

2. Woman president of USA

3. The hybrid Women

4. Women in Defense Services

5. Why Indian English authors are not feminist?

© Vipin Behari Goyal

Advocate, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, India

Sins of Individualism

Why Suicide is the final solution for Modern Man

Superman at bridge

There were three Homo sapiens The Apeman, The Modern Man and The Superman. They looked very different from each other. Only a biologist could say that they belonged to the same species of the animal kingdom.

They all lived on the same island. They were constantly in conflict about values. The conflict grew in magnitude with each passing day. The thought of suicide occurred to them simultaneously. They reached to the bridge. They did not know what was at the other end of the bridge. So far they could see, it was spread like Anaconda on the sea.

The Superman  decided to walk into unknown and discover the other end of the bridge. He had accomplished impossible by sheer 'will to power'. He was an explorer and instead of reason he had more faith in the power of his sub-conscious mind.

The Man had a doubt if he can use the bridge which was made by 'the strength of collective man' to attain his personal objective of suicide. He stood on the bank in contemplative mood. He desired to be 'loved alone' due to his 'self love'. He loved the seclusion caused by his self love. He had no desire to cross the impassable sea of universal love.

The Apeman was interested in suicide out of curiosity. He wanted to survive even after committing suicide. He had survived so far only because he trusted his instincts. The Apeman reached to the conclusion that he would not ‘exist’ if he commits suicide. Recently he had herded cattle and his likes on a mesa. Now he was most powerful amongst all hilltop habitations. He was Seer in the eyes of his people. He knew about some others of his kind who lived on the same island, but thought and acted differently. But he kept his own kind away from those contaminated species. So The Apeman decided to return without committing suicide.

The Modern Man was looked down upon with contempt from The Apeman and The Superman. He was left alone at the bridge. He thought that not only the other ‘classes’ but his own kind also hated him for what he was and what he had accomplished, by inheriting sustained variation due to his constant 'struggle for existence'.

The variations were infinite and inheritance was never absolute. Moreover, he could never know if the variation would be beneficial or harmful to his species in the future, even though they helped him in survival. The struggle that was once need of the hour became his inherited trait.

The ‘fear’ was now an inherent part of his ‘psyche’. He had created new ‘phantoms’ to be afraid of. All phantoms, since the beginning were byproducts of ‘death’. The modern man was determined to conquer this fear. He wanted ‘Nirvana’ not only for himself, but for the entire race of modern mankind. He acknowledged himself as ‘absurd comedy of reproduction, and had no interest in perpetuating a comedy that turns into tragedy. Death was the only rational solution.

So he jumped from the bridge.

Surprisingly, he did not fell in the river. His location was restored by a electromagnetic device. The bridge was a modern bridge made by modern technology. Nothing could fall in the river which could pollute it. The sensors observed that the Modern Man had contaminated mind. The sensor also suggested the Modern Man to read the "The Waste Land" By T.S.Eliot.

Keep reading for the interpretation of "The Waste Land" by the Modern Man.

© Vipin Behari Goyal

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Three Girls on the Bridge in Search of Identity

The Story of Three Girls On the Bridge in search of Identity

Edvard Munch at Tate Modern

Three girls decided to cross the bridge. The bridge was made of ropes and wooden planks. The planks were weathered and the rope was sick. They had no work on the other side of the bridge. They wanted to cross it for the sake of fun and adventure. When they were almost at the midway the bridge broke. One girl fell down in the river, one was hanging by holding the rope and the third one was still standing on the plank of the bridge that was about to give way. The Fallen, The Falling and About to Fall are three women(girls became women when bridge brakes) about whom the whole literature of the world has been written. The women were not insecure, only bridge was insecure. The juxtaposition created an illusion which women enjoyed.

The river beneath the bridge thronged with dead bodies of male. From above the bridge they looked dead, but actually they were not dead. They were at various stages of unconsciousness. Youth was unconscious and elders whimpered inaudibly in semi consciousness. There were no children. No literature in the world has ever portrayed the suffering and agony of the gender of this species. The Nausea had caused Metamorphosis in The Strangers. They all had similar faces. Why would anybody take interest in them. They were all archetypes of cave man wearing different masks. Civilization taught them to conceal their true-type. They were basically disorganized, aimless and inactive. 

Women were organized, active and focused by their natural gift of virginity, menstruation and menopause. They searched for identity since they knew they have one. The man was even unconscious about that. He  became active only when provoked by women.

The level of consciousness of the males changed due to Fallen girl. The Fallen girl had the role models of Anna Karenina, Moll Flanders, Constance Chatterley  and Madam Bovary. All these women had flouted the prescribed norms of the society and lived their life in their own way. The society looked with awe, but did not dare to condemn them. The readers loved them. Atwood would appreciate them for being Bad Women. They did not care two figs about anybody's opinion. They were all part of a stream, which was not unidirectional. Magnanimity and meanness are unconfined. The Fallen women had more magnanimity.

Read Burn Me Naked.

The Falling woman who was still sticking to unstranded rope, and each strand was breaking under the pressure, looked up and down. She was not afraid to fall, she was just waiting for all strands to break and then she would have a natural fall. She remembered the naked dance of Connie in the rain. Connie was in unison with nature. The dance was not an effort of celebration, it was a synchronization of her entire being with all the elements of nature. She danced like a peacock. The final strand would break by her will to power.

The one who still stood on the damaged wooden plank of the bridge was Emma. She had a conditioned mind, initially. She thought fallen are lower class, falling are middle class and she herself was upper class. After repeated mistakes she had learned her lessons. Now she knew her "matchmaking" was actually voyeuristic and she always took pleasure in imagining those couple copulating. Thus she herself had vicariously enjoyed the clandestine pleasure of proximity and copulation with almost all the male characters around her. Now, after getting married with Mr. Knightly, who was much older than her, she knew in her heart that Harriet and Robert Martin would supersede her in  carnal pleasure. So about to Fall was in no way different from Fallen and Falling.

Vipin Behari Goyal

Author

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