In "The Waste Land" and in Carpenter, England is described from an elevated viewpoint; Carpenter's viewpoint is full and hopeful, while Eliot uses a river to show emptiness and decay. Both texts use a common symbol of a river. When referring to the river, they both alternate between sight and sound, making it clear what is around them. However, they differ in terms of what the river carries: Carpenter's river is very natural, and the setting is beautiful, but Eliot's river is filled with garbage, making it the Waste Land version of Carpenter's.

In "A Game of Chess," line 172, Eliot closes the section with "Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night," which is an exact quote from Ophelia's exit line. Eliot isn't summarizing or echoing; he is stating exactly what is said by Ophelia, and in both texts, they function as an exit line. This idea led me to question why Ophelia and why her exact words. Ophelia's anger stems from the death of the men around her, and Eliot's Part II is full of women in similar situations. Ophelia's madness manifests as fragmented sentences, which is the same texture Eliot uses for the women in this section. He uses Ophelia as a template for this section and then directly quotes her to reveal the similarities between the women.

Eliot directly mentions "Philomel" and summarizes Ovid's plot. He uses Philomel as a tangible physical object, a painting. I found it interesting that Eliot turns this raw and violent narrative into a decorative object. Eliot says, "as though a window gave upon the sylvan scene"; comparing the painting to a window adds a layer of complexity. A window would mean there is real contact with the outside world, whereas a painting is chosen and deliberately placed in its home. This also connects back to the fact that Philomela has lost her tongue; she can no longer speak for herself. Eliot's painting takes her trauma and converts it into something for people to look at and rationalize her suffering.

In Dante Canto when he says, "Could not believe, death had undone so many", Eliot directly connects this idea to his line saying, "I had not thought death has undone so many." The use of the word "undone" shifts between these two lines. In Dante, it is used as a shock as so many people have died. But for Eliot the people are not literally dead; it is more that something has "undone" them, so death is more a metaphor for numbness.

The Hyacinthus article emphasizes Hyacinthus as a beautiful young man who is loved by Apollo but is accidentally killed. Apollo is devastated, so he names a flower after him as a symbol of his love and grief. Eliot uses the "hyacinth garden" as a way to convey heavy emotion if they are "leaving nor dead." This idea directly aligns with the Hyacinthus myth because the beautiful flower connects both the living and the dead. Hyacinthus is dead, but his memory remains intact through the flower that is named after him.

Eliot is portraying a strong connection to death and despair. Death becomes a form of escape, for the Sibyl, as death would free her from an endless existence. Conrad presents Kurtz as physically alive but destroyed in a spiritual sense before he actually dies. Both Eliot and Conrad offer a life without meaning as a way of a living death. Sibyl wishes for death because being alive has been unbearable. On a similar page Kurtz reaches death after a horrifying reality check about himself and the world around him.

In " The Burial of the Dead", death is described as a universal human experience when it says, "all things are more fleeting than a shadow" implying that death is inevitable. This idea connects to the opening line in "The Waste Land" as April is used to describe what has been lost. Normally, April is a month of rebirth, bringing in new life; instead, the reader must view April as "the cruelest month." Both pieces focus on what happens after death, April being the month to mourn what was lost and then spring into rebirth. Similarly, in "Burial of the Dead" there is a constant idea of reconstruction, which emphasizes the cycle of life present in both pieces. Overall, there is a general idea of death leading towards renewal which can be inferred using the opening lines in "The Waste Land."

The title "The Waste Land", connects to "Heart of Darkness" by Joesph Conrad as Conrad portrays a decaying, dark life. He represents a physical wasteland as he says, "His was a impenetrable darkness." He suggests a life without meaning, something that is empty. He argues about life's purpose, "the most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself" which comes with "regrets." This idea about not being able to totally trust yourself, let alone the people around you, describes the waste land Conrad is outlining by showing a life without without direction. A life where you are constantly in search of your "destiny" unsure where to go next.