Wasteland: Expanded
Can you BE any more conceited than analysing your own work?
Hi friends,
I want to explore some of the ideas behind the poem ‘Wasteland’. I think it’s really interesting. There’s about 3 layers to this poem which can roughly be categorised, as moral, providential (religious), and political, which i’m keen to elaborate on.
So meaning spoilers ahead, if that’s even a thing?
What’s right worth?
when wrong doesn’t matter?
The question at the heart of this poem is what good are rights and “right” itself when what’s wrong isn’t held to account.
There’s 3 (of many) ways to map this question:
What’s the point in doing right, and turning the other cheek, when others are terrible and get away with it? (Moral)
What’s the point in doing right, and turning the other cheek, when there’s no God and Sin goes unpunished? (Providential)
What’s the point of human rights, when rights violations are ignored? (Political)
These 3 questions are really 1 question asked at 3 different levels of analysis. I write a bite size breakdown of each level, and add my own opinion below.
The Moral.
“What’s the point in doing right, and turning the other cheek, when others are terrible and get away with it?” (Moral)
I think this is a very relevant question. I think it’s a question that many of us might ask ourselves many times per week - some more so than others. I think there’s two ways you can read this question - as a cynic or an optimist.
Cynic reading: “There’s no point in doing right when there’s wrong doing all around you, it’ll just get you taken advantage of.”
Optimist reading: “There’s all the more reason to do right when there’s plenty wrong going around, a candle in the night is worth 3 at day. When everything is bad we need all the good we can get, so all the more reason to do right.”
I think both perspectives have their place, I err on the optimists side of things but the idea was to give voice to both.
The Providential.
“What’s the point in doing right, and turning the other cheek, when there’s no God and Sin goes unpunished?” (Providential)
This, of course, has been a pretty important question post enlightenment, but arguably never more so than today.
For some people, if there’s no objective source of truth, right, and wrong, or God, then there’s really no reason not to do whatever you want, whenever, at whomever’s expense.
For others, this isn’t the case, they can subscribe to a social-contract sort of theory of bottom up morality. Basically, right is what’s best for peace and cooperation and so things like honesty, kindness, tolerance, are logical values to have; with or without God’s word.
I’m kind of split down the middle. I think religion is very valuable and think it’s kind of hard to fathom the influence the Bible has had on western “everything” let alone morality.
That said, I think it’s blatant to see that most of the time old virtues, not only were around before mainstream religion, but serve our best interests as a race.
To me, it helps to be helpful. The better I am, the better I can be to others and vice versa.
The Political.
“What’s the point of human rights, when rights violations are ignored?” (Political)
This level of analysis is obviously in light of the current Israel-Palestine conflict, but also is more of a general take on the logic & ethics of self defence and resistance.
pray.
play it smart,
bare blades
and hide hearts.
For what’re rights worth?
when wrong
doesn’t matter
This line is not meant as a apologetics for any violence, on any side, but merely sympathy.
I can imagine that, if I was in a position where I thought another group were blatantly oppressing me and getting away with it, I might try to “play it smart” and strike back too.
In Conclusion.
All in all, i just wanted to explore the question of right and its value. There’s obviously many more perspectives on the topic, and thoughts behind the poem. My essay doesn’t invalidate any other interpretations you might have of Wasteland either.
As always, I just want to make you think.
Hope that made you think, & R.I.P Matthew Perry :(
-O