The silent Colonies in Eliot’s Poetry: Wasteland and Four Quartets

Abstract

The years following the First and Second World Wars were chaotic for the Western world: the loss of empire for European powers was accompanied by the rise of American hegemony. In this economic and political transformation, the consequences of these events on the ‘third world’ were yet to unfold and were often ignored. This paper will examine the impact of these wars on former colonies especially in view of the loss and distress that Eliot portrays in his seminal poems. These emotions unfold in diverse forms in different parts of the world. Therefore, the paper will attempt to critique Indian imagery and theological concepts employed by Eliot to understand these events through a post-colonial perspective.