A Heap of Broken Images

The great poet T.S. Eliot once wrote:

"What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water"
(The Wasteland, 19-24)

This second scene that Eliot creates in his first section "The Burial of the Dead" depicts a scene of unknowing, or the inability to understand truth. Eliot expresses that as humans, we "know only a heap of broken images". This idea of "broken images" deals with the incapacity of the human brain to comprehend within itself the true nature of Truth. The human mind has been corrupted in a way that created within in us the inability to truly understand Truth. Although we may see glimses of good within the world of knowledge and philosophical thought, as humans we always fall short of complete Truth. As we go about our days our mind is constantly being constructed by waht we see and hear; we only know what we see and experience. These ecperiences form understandings of the world that create premises within our being that may be truth, or may lead us astray. Eliot stresses on the idea that within human nature lies the inability to cope with truth. Eliot was a Christian, so his interpretation of the world is expressed through the lens of Adam and Eve eating of the fruit in the Garden of Eden. The fall of mankind in this sense is the premise in which Eliot develops this theme of "broken images". Eliot also weaves in the theme of there being some sort of hidden and prominent Truth that allows us to find some sort of understanding within the reality that we live.
I find it interesting looking into the world through the lens of T.S. Eliot and his notion of "broken images". I find myself constantly trying to find truth and good in every situation, and often times I come to the understanding that their is not always a right and a wrong, a definate and an indefinate truth. In every decision that I make there always seems to be good and bad woven amidst it, so what is right? This constant chaotic trance that my mind seems to have the inability to break continues to control and drive my head often times insane on a day to day basis. There is beauty woven into the things of this world that is so often times blinded by the reality of evil. Evil has corrupted our human minds so far to the point that we can't even see the true beauty and nature of the goodness of God in all His glory. This is the downfall of mankind. We can strive so hard to seek out the good in this world, and in doing so seeking the Lord, but evil will always create conflict within our fallen minds. With this knowledge at hand as humans we can begin to truly take heed of our thoughts, focusing them upon the Kingdom of God with the knowledge that everything else in perespective has no relevance. This is the only truth that we as humans can rest upon, everything else will conitnue to send our minds and hearts down a path that only hinders our ability to find Truth.