Paper Summary:

This paper reviews, compares and contrasts the poem "The Waste Land" by Thomas Stearns Eliot and the movie "The Fisher King". The author of the paper argues that both the poem and the movie deal with similar themes. While the poem is about the fall of Western civilization into a world of madness and chaos without meaning, the movie can be interpreted as a modern day parable of the cynicism that pervades our society and how we can reclaim our lives from the ruins of society. The paper discusses other similar themes as well, including the loss of innocence and the rediscovery of lost youth. The paper also cites evidence that both the play and the film have characteristics of Homeric similes.

From the Paper:

"Eliot's poem touches upon the decline of civilization and the inability of individuals to bring about change. This same theme is touched upon in The Fisher King where the trappings of modern society destroy individuals and individual lives. Jack in the beginning saw the young urban professionals, "yuppies", as enemies of society, yet he did not realize that the true enemy was the structure of society which created a populace of mostly uncaring and dispassionate individuals. By denouncing them, he becomes an instrument of the forces that corrupt society which he had fought against. It is this realization that makes him fall from grace through the discovery that his comments on the radio to a listener had caused the death of those in the bar."

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