is possible only if faith and divine help return Eliot writes I sat upon the shore Fishing with the arid plain behind me Shall I at least set my lands in order Spiritual Wasteland The first section shows a land of stones trees and the hot sun But there is no water no shelter Only the red rock gives shade This red rock is the church The poet says Here is no water but only rock Rock and no water and the sandy road Eliot shows that the modern wasteland is like the Bible s wasteland Only Christ and true religion can give new life Just as Christ once saved he can save again Water Imagery Water is a strong symbol of salvation It can clean purify and give new birth In Part IV Eliot writes about Phlebas the young sailor He dies in water but he has no spiritual hope He lived only for trade not for faith So water brings him death not life Let us study this in the following quote Phlebas the Phoenician a fortnight dead Forgot the profit and loss Eliot also links water to The Tempest and old gods Through this he shows that water can both destroy and save Fire Sermon In this section Eliot writes about lust and desire He uses Buddha s Fire Sermon Buddha taught that desire burns the soul If we follow desire we only find pain But if we control desire we find peace Eliot joins this with Christian prayer Burning burning burning burning O Lord Thou pluckest me out O Lord Thou pluckest Here fire means human sin and God can save Salvation comes by leaving desire and following a holy path Chapel Perilous This place comes from King Arthur s legends It was full of danger and fear Knights had to cross it to reach the Holy Grail In Eliot s poem it shows the hard path to salvation The Fisher King and his land are barren because of sin Only the Grail can heal them A brave knight must risk his life to reach it This journey is like human life We must fight fear and sin to find salvation Upanishads At the end Eliot uses Indian texts People suffer from drought and famine They pray to God God answers with thunder Da Da Da Eliot explains First Da Datta Give Second Da Dayadhvam Sympathize Third Da Damyata Control At last Eliot writes Shantih shantih shantih It means peace beyond understanding Here salvation is not only Christian but also universal It can come from any true faith In The Waste Land salvation is a strong theme Eliot portrays the world as broken akin to a barren land But there is still hope Symbols of the Fisher King the church water fire the Chapel and the Upanishads all point to ways of healing Salvation comes through faith self-control and love