Why is London called the Unreal City NU T S Eliot published The Waste Land in In its first section London is called the Unreal City This picture of London reflects the emptiness of modern life The city is crowded but lifeless filled with people who seem to have lost all hope Eliot uses this phrase to show the spiritual death of modern society Crowds Like The Dead People move like ghosts without purpose or feeling They are alive in body but dead in spirit Eliot writes A crowd flowed over London Bridge so many I had not thought death had undone so many Loss of Human Connection The people keep their eyes fixed on the ground They avoid contact showing fear and isolation The city is full yet everyone is lonely Eliot shows that modern life has lost true human bonds Echo of Baudelaire The phrase Unreal City comes