The Waste Land Parts 3 and 4

The third section is based around rivers and water. The author begins by saying "the river's tent is broken" and ends with a poem or a song about a river. The very final sentences are describing fire and despair why seem to oppose the idea of water being calm and harmless. This chapter seems to have many references to hopelessness and unhappiness. When a character says to the protagonist that he promised "a new start" he did not respond, implying that he did not have any faith in the speakers comment. This section is very confusing and random but the reference to rivers and water is very distinct and I've decided to expand on the idea.

Water in this first part binds all the connecting ideas because they all refer back to water. In this section water is seen as tranquil and even as an escape from reality or the boring unending circle of life. Rivers themselves are teeming with life inside and on their surface so the author makes the point that even though life is difficult and you feel as though you have lost your way you can still be guided by nature. The fourth section, on the other hand, is titled "Death By Water" which seems to me as very contradictory to the previous section. This section tells a story of a man who loses his life in the sea. Though he has passed away when i read this passage it seemed as though Phlebas had finally been satisfied and put to rest. My interpretation of this passage was that Phlebas had fallen upon misfortune and had become a wretched man and in this context he even welcomed death, as though it rescued him from his terrible state. I found the third and fourth sections very confusing and it was very difficult to identify strong allusions, I think I needed a stronger understanding of these parts of the text before I can analyze them any further.