Contemporary Literary Review India | Print ISSN 2250-3366 | Online ISSN 2394-6075 | Vol. 7, No. 2: CLRI May 2020

Orient as Salvation: Beyond Eliotian Chaos and Swiftian Misanthropy

Mohammad Zahidul Islam

Mohammad Z Islam is currently a senior lecturer at the Department of English in Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He completed his graduation and post-graduation from the Department of English, University of Dhaka. His research primarily focuses on literary theory, American modernism, post-colonial literature and cultural studies.

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to scrutinize the modern western civilization and its social elements that inspired T.S. Eliot to write his widely critiqued “The Waste Land” which laments over the debasement of socio-psychological and moral aspects of humanity. Besides, this paper also delves into finding the possibility of connection between Eliotian chaos and an apparent misanthropy brought forth by Jonathan Swift in his much acclaimed satire Gulliver’s Travels. In both cases, it seems the authors suggest to darker follies of human nature which loom large against the backdrop of a capitalistic and scientifically advanced western world. Initially it seems there is a hidden correlation that inspired both the writers to craft their respective signature works. To put it in simple terms, western belief, pattern of logic, scientific advancement and extreme adherence to rationality often result in nothingness that eventually leads them to chaos and sufferings.

In contrast to this, once hugely stereotyped ‘exotic, sensual, and crazy’ orient suddenly appears with its tranquility and connectedness enough to provide salvation from western chaos and sufferings, although this does not change the orient from its apparent disorderly ordered shape. At least this is what is presented in a 2016 Hollywood movie “Doctor Strange” and a 1980 South African movie named “Gods Must Be Crazy”. In both the movies it seems they provide a veiled harmony which is beyond western way of looking at life, if not the whole humanity. This particular harmony nurtures the belief that modern western irregularities vanishes when set in an oriental context.

Keywords

Debasement of socio-psychological, immoral aspects of humanity, darker follies of humanity, The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot, Western Chaos, Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift.

1. Introduction

T.S Eliot’s “The Waste Land” is often considered as one of the best works of twentieth century. This long poem is unique in its apparent loosely connected complex structure, multiplicity of meaning and very deep allusions. This entails the enigma of being cast away in a deep philosophical and moral void where literally nothing grows, no regeneration or procreation takes place.

On the other hand, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, especially the fourth book titled A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms, is considered as one of the most influential satires, if not the most influential, on human follies of eighteenth century. In here, the author’s vivid description of the Yahoos and Houyhnhnms cast light in a possible psychological annihilation, a near apocalypse state, for entire human race. The choice to live the protagonist’s life with Houyhnhnms rather than humans is not merely a “foederi fati, the laws of fate”, as the ancient Latin called it. It is rather a political and psychological choice which bypasses the human race.

Within this line, the 2016 Hollywood movie Doctor Strange seems akin to these two texts where it depicts the life of a wealthy, arrogant and second-to-none neurosurgeon, Doctor Stephens Strange. In a serious car crash, the eponymous character becomes physically crippled, leaving him helpless and hopeless. When his hospital and fellow surgeons, symbolically representing the whole of western world’s scientific ability, fails and renders him almost bankrupt, he discovers that the answer lies in the east- Nepal. In Nepal, he learns the mystic arts from the Ancient One who heals him and raises hope for him.

In contrast, a series of movies were made in the banner named Gods Must Be Crazy where the African San tribe lives happily without the knowledge of outer world until somewhat accidentally they come across a bottle of Coca-Cola, symbolically representing the European consumer culture. As the plot progress, audiences find the tribe engaged in quarrel over the possession of the bottle. Later, the tribal leader Xi decides to take this to the edge of the world only to get disposed of this.

To generalize, it is presumable true that any society based on the economic and scientific principles of the western world does not provide harmony or peace. Human endeavors to find harmony and connectedness result in chaos due to multiple issues- division of labor, philosophical and psychological void and an overwhelming fascination for rationality. However, a disorderly order culminates in a more solitary world, a world of the long dehumanized orient, beyond these entire modern European worlds.

2. T.S Eliot and Western Chaos

T.S Eliot is celebrated as a master of modern English literature not only because of his esoteric nature of writing through allusions and an apparent disjointed structure but also because of his thematic concern that reflects the philosophies of this era. Like his many other poems, “The Waste Land” as well “depicts an image of the modern world through the perspective of a man finding himself hopeless and confused about the condition of society” (Rhee, 2012). On the other hand, Tyler E. Anderson credited F.R Leavis as saying “The Waste Land” is “a reflection of- and on- a changed world; a world in which innocence has been lost, skepticism triumphs over mystery, and mankind has lost a fundamental part of its spirit (Anderson, 2010).”

In simple terms, chaos, complexity, cruelty and alienation are among many themes that take the center stage of attention in Eliot’s writing while in plain view his poems highlight the scintillating social structure of the west. For example, the very first line of “The Waste Land” starts abruptly and takes the readers to cruelty of the society.

“April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land…”(1-2)

This immediate touch with cruelty is not the end in itself rather a beginning to the greater world of “The horror! The horror!”(Conrad, 116).

Later, as the reader comforts themselves in few loose lines talking about coffee and childhood memories, immediately after the speaker rips the comfort apart, saying-

“Son of man, You cannot say, or guess, for you know only A heap of broken images…” (Eliot, 21- 23)

This immediate identification of the lack of knowledge is disturbing for the readers; a sharp contrast to Kurtz in the Heart of Darknesswho has experiences and knowledge of pain, sufferings and the dark face of society.

For T.S Eliot, suggesting to the destitution of human knowledge is not enough. He breaks the confidence or belief of human beings. Therefore, after rendering them helpless, Eliot harshly takes humanity in some kind of endless suffering with fear. He writes-

“…I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” (30)

Apparently, the dust seems naïve, a non-lethal component but as the readers follow Eliotian pattern they understand the poet is not naïve or superficial. Rather he can be serious even in small trivial matters. For example, his symbol of ‘water’ in “Death by Water” section of the poem highlights how a simple, apparently innocent symbol becomes deadly for Phlebas. This trick of using such kind of symbol is not uncommon among modernist writers. But the unique thing about Eliot is his possibility of suggesting beyond what an average brain cannot imagine. Thus a ‘handful of dust’ allures to the possibility of fragmentation, separation, nothingness.

Moreover, confusion is another significant element in Eliot’s works. Fragmentation aligned with confusion can be dangerous. It works as a means of emphasizing the helplessness, breaking down of communication and finally placing the subject in nothingness. In contrast to the famous modern playwright Samuel Becket, T.S Eliot does not merely disconnect the theme from meaning, rather it alienates the readers from the reality they are living in. In Samuel Becket’s masterpiece Waiting for Godot or Endgame, we see the author uses repetitions and fragmentation to break to communication between the actors but Eliot isolate the readers from their living world and cast them into another world which appears nothing. To quote-

“…I could not Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither Living nor dead, and I knew nothing…” (38- 40)

This concept of ‘neither living nor dead’ bounds the readers to imagine that the speaker is living in a purgatory. Later, Eliot presents London only through his cunning metaphors aspurgatory. Interestingly or ironically, the identification of the city of London as tormenting place does not stops Eliot from grieving over the human limitations of knowledge, ability and judgments. He digs deeper into human psychology where he finds an unfathomable void again.

“Unreal City, …A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many….” (60-62)

Thus the ‘unreal city’ of London not only makes humans surrogate of machines but also deprives them of human essence- sprouting seeds or regeneration- ultimately leading to a barren land. This theme runs throughout “The Waste Land” in different forms- philosophical, psychological, spiritual, and social. Lack of trust, isolation, death and decay only deepens the misery.

T.S Eliot is probably the lone poet who deals with confusion in its enormous form that varies in contexts, mindset, situation and time.In his another poetic masterpiece “East Coker” of the Four Quartets, he presents another realm of confusion with the opening line- “In my beginning is my end.”

This line is but a one single example of so many other lines in the poem. Interesting enough, this line echoes the dialectics of ‘Unity of Opposites’ as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus presented it- “The way up and the way down is one and the same.” This notion is only true if the life is considered a cycle where the way upward and the downward is the same. Considering this notion, the readers find Eliot as suggesting to more serious world of hopelessness where the confusion always keeps coming back in a circular motion-

“Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear.” (The Hollow Man, 70-72)

Through a different lens, T.S Eliot’s world depicts the modern scientific world as devoid of essential human quality- imagination, emotion, spirituality. He also drags the readers to a world of chaos, lack of trust due to the make-believe attitude. In his another poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, he suggested to a sexually perverted culture lacking genuine interest in the act of sexuality itself-

“In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo.” (35-36)

This line suggests how discussion on the famous Italian painter was considered a trend, a fashion to attract the attention of people. The ‘women’ as it seemsare quite conscious about the modern trend in sex trade. They do not care about the uniqueness, authenticity of the painter; all they care about is money through love-making. Thus they objectify the painter along with themselves. This objectification deprives the marginalized people in a capitalistic community based on economic capabilities to buy products. Inability of buying it renders them further into oblivion. It is probably at this stage that the speaker goes beyond this for solace. He tries to find companion in imaginary mermaids but they also neglect him.

“I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me.” (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 123-124)

Due to this utter feeling of loneliness and remorse, Prufrock grows an overwhelming fear of being unaccepted by the society. This brings no emotional connectedness rather torments-

“Do I dare Disturb the universe?” (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 43-44)

But his ability to disturb the universe seems anoverstatement. He can do nothing except for feeling that he “should have been a pair of ragged claws” or he has ‘measured out’ his ‘life with coffee spoons’.

To comment further, distrust, existential crisis and lack of authenticity become essential part of T.S Eliot’s writing, especially “The Waste Land”. He finds the western world very dead and rotten that lack the capability of regeneration. He puts it marvelously in “The Hollow Man”,

“This is the dead land This is cactus land…” (39- 40) And later expresses his lamentations over the matter, saying- “This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.” (96- 97)

To add up, the world of T.S Eliot is full of lamentations, grief and nothingness probably because he vividly depicts the contemporary philosophical and psychological void resulting from lack of emotional connection and confusion. His character in the poems becomes alienated like Prufrock and their sufferings become identical to the suffering of entire European people.Eliot does not any way soothe the readers; rather he takes them into a world of limitations of man who continuously suffers in vain. Nothing in his poetry is harmonized including his themes, structural designs or the tone. However, Semy Rhee (2012) argues that “although they may seem disjointed, all elements of the poem rather coherently communicate what modern society ultimately believes.”

In conclusion, fragmentation in Eliot becomes powerful enough to cast light on human separation and detachment from the root. Religion does not provide solace or even rhetoric of peace breaks down into pieces. Eliot also ironically incorporates the concept of ‘holy grail’ only to mock human capability. He further shows that the inability becomes the only ability for humans, the inaction becomes the only action and the void is the only full. A shadow of doubt falls over everything that seems truly human essence; confusion is carefully cast over what humans genuinely demands, if not expects.

“Between the conception/ And the creation Between the emotion/ And the response/ Falls the Shadow…” (Eliot, 77- 81)

3. Gulliver’s Travels and European Moral Crisis

Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels in a time where the society experienced enormous political controversies and an outbreak of ideological degradation, especially in the church. The book was a satireonthe political establishment of contemporary England as well as an overall satire on human race. Therefore, his tone becomes harsh and the choices of language very bold enough to strike the accepted social way of thinking.

The book is divided into four parts- each focusing distinctively on specific human follies- named as ‘A Voyage to Lilliput’, ‘A Voyage to Brobdingnag’, ‘A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan’ and finally to ‘A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms’.

Thus the six inches people in Lilliput may symbolize the intellectual and moral height of English people as well as may stand for the false arrogance of their advancement. The giants in the land of Brobdingnag may stands to ridicule the trivialities of human beings as well as the insignificance of their affairs. The third voyage uniquely presents the Laputa people where the readers find them extensively busy with scientific experiments enough to forget their family and friends, poking the European interest on science and technology. His fourth book takes the readers into a world upside down where the human like creatures, Yahoos, are seen to serve the horses, Houyhnhnms.

During the first decade of eighteenth century, Jonathan Swift and several otherslike Jeremy Collier, Daniel Defoe, Addison and Steele showed “a growing concern for public morality” (Shamsuddoha, 1987). However, it is due to his fourth book that many critiques believe Jonathan Swift as having ‘saeva indignatio’, fierce indignation, to the society.

He depicted ‘humans’ in the fourth book of Gulliver’s Travels as nearly as having the qualities of animal. In the very first encounter of Lemuel Gulliver, the protagonist in the novel, upon arriving at the land of Houyhnhnms, the readers find the Yahoos eating raw flesh of asses. Gulliver describes the human like creatures as following-

“Their heads and breasts were covered with a thick hair… they had beards like goats, and a long ridge of hair down their backs, and the fore parts of their legs and feet; but the rest of their bodies was bare… their skins… were of a brown buff colour. They had no tails, nor any hair at all on their buttocks…. they had strong extended claws before and behind…. They would often spring, and bound, and leap, with prodigious agility.” (Swift, P 281)

In contrast, while narrating the behavior and outlook of the horses, his language seems placing the horses as intelligent and rational animals which are feared by the ‘human’. At one point Gulliver says- “I almost began to think he was speaking to himself, in some language of his own”. Not only does Gulliver find them seemingly talking, but also believes that “they must needs be magicians, who had thus metamorphosed themselves upon some design…” (Swift, P. 283- 284)

After a little while, as the reader finds, Gulliver is highly in contact with the Houyhnhnms culture and start calling them master who lack the concept of falsehood because their world is beyond any falsehood. Such a height of morality, ironically enough, undermines the European standard of ethics, if not the whole human beings. This undermining tone towards the humans is not, as M. Shamduddoha (1987) argues, because he hates the human being but rather because this becomes an element of satirical literature. Other critiques of eighteenth century do not subscribe to this argument though.

However, there are it can be argued that all the comparisons that Gulliver makes in the text highlights Houyhnhnms as having the better qualities than men. In Gulliver’s observations-

“Neither is reason among them a point problematical, as with us, where men can argue with plausibility on both sides of the question, but strikes you with immediate conviction” (Swift, 341).

This focuses light on the limitations of human being to identify the truth from false, the original from the fake. Thus, the confusion arises.

Gulliver as the readers find him in book four, he mixes with the horses, learn their language, practice their culture and of course subscribe their rationality. As Mary Gerace (1967) argues “Swift wished to be more than comic and obviously saw satire as a means of reform” not obviously an end in itself. As a writer he found it much easier and practical not to irritate the readers in tedious arguments. Donald Gilliland Murchie (1989) probably has the best comment for Gulliver when he says-

“Wherever Gulliver finds himself, he adopts not only the language and clothes of his peers, but absorbs their world-view, their manners, their customs, and even their prejudices.”

This is where we need to focus because in learning the language and performing other’s culture, Gulliver loses his own country’s notion and behavior. He loses his root and floats like the nomads all through the novel, each time facing a shipwreck or accidents. Gulliver’s end becomes highly controversial not only because he treats the horses as his master but also his utter rejection of emotional bonding with his family, friends and well-wishers. Thus he ends up hating the entire humanity. Arguably, Swift’s resentments resulted fromthe growing concern over political and ideological chaos prevailing in the contemporary England.

To our surprise, upon these political and philosophical or ideological grounds that T.S Eliot, after almost two hundred years, wrote “The Waste Land”. Both T.S Eliot and Jonathan Swift are identical in their expression of discomfort over the human limitation resulting from confusion, political turmoil, philosophical flux and ideological conflicts. All these crises finally lead to the expression of interest in a salvation. For Jonathan Swift it comes through the noble creature horses in Gulliver’s Travels while for T.S Eliot the salvation comes as rain in the Himalayas raising a feeling of peace- ‘santih’.

Apart from all this arguments, generally speaking Gulliver’s Travels "has become a dauntingly 'modern' book again in the last 15 or 20 years, because it presents as fiction what many of us are troubled by as fact (Donoghue, 1969)"

4. Western Failure and Doctor Strange

The movie Doctor Strange is a 2016 American super hero movie based on Marvel comics and it was produced by Marvel Studio. This movie was directed by Scott Derrickson, who also wrote it along with Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill. Benedict Cumberbatch appeared as the titular character along with Rachel McAdams and Tilda Swinton among many others.

Doctor Stephen Strange, the protagonist in the movie, is a neuroscientist who is presented as the most skilled doctor in neurology, healing many patients in a New York hospital. In a surprising turn of events, he faces an accident which ultimately renders him physically unable to operate. After what his colleagues term it a successful operation, he finds his hands have lost the capability to move. Gaining consciousness, he immediately expresses his utter disgust over the operation in a conversation with Christine Palmer, his ex-lover.

“Christine: Nobody could have done better than this. Strange: I could have done better than this (Doctor Strange)”

Lost in arrogance, helplessness and lack of ability to do something, he discovers one of his former patients who revived from similar injuries. This is when he is informed of the fictional city Kamar-Taj, in Nepal.

Kamar-Taj is where Doctor strange re-discovers him entirely from his previous believes, experiences,proximity with European rationalism and scientific explanations. Kamar-Taj opens newer vistas of knowledge, possibility and enormous ‘realms’ that he himself could not believe, although at the beginning the Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton, finds him as thus-“You're a man looking at the world through a keyhole…. Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all.” In a later conversation with the Ancient One, he pronounces his utter disbelief again on the ‘power of belief’. He says “I do not believe in fairy tales about chakras or energy or the power of belief…. We are made of matter and nothing more.”

His materialistic belief significantly echoes the medieval European philosophical enquiries when scientists dissected the human body only to find matters and no soul. This established faith in material evolution, The Big Bang, if you like, as proposed by Stephen Hawking in his renowned book A Brief History of Time, does not anyway explain the soul or metaphysical world, the cult in this case.In a sharp contrast, the Ancient One tells him that “at the root of existence, mind and matter meet. Thoughts form reality [meet]. This universe is only one of an infinite number, worlds without end (Doctor Strange)”

This initial yet powerful contrast troubles Doctor Strange not only because he is unable to fathom the depth, seriousness and magnanimity of eastern belief, but also because it goes against all his learning from European secular thoughts. To accept this, he needs to fight, to unlearn all his life lessons.Later on though, Doctor Strange, after some rigorous and awkward training from the Ancient One, gathers believe in mystic cult which he confesses spontaneously and with much civility.

“Christine Palmer: Where have you been?

Doctor Strange: Well, after Western medicine failed me, I headed east, and I ended up in Kathmandu…. (Doctor Strange)”

This learning makes him adaptive, out of western rationality, flexible enough to accept any coherent logic made through vision and faith. This is when he can trust the Ancient One saying-

“At the root of existence, mind and matter meet. Thoughts shape reality. This universe is only one of an infinite number. Worlds without end (Doctor Strange).”

In this line of arguments, the comment of Scoot Derrickson, the director of the movie, about Doctor Stephen Strange applies to the whole western infatuation over rationality as well when he says-

“When someone gives themselves over to an extraordinarily strict moral code, the process of breaking out of that is a violent one” (Derrickson, Wikipedia)

It is clear that western rationalism, science and progress cannot provide solace in one’s life rather it alienates the human soul. Order does not ensure safety or comfort but bring upon the society a camouflaged freedom that one cannot find. An apparent progress in infrastructure sprouts from within itself the cage of human soul. To argue, western logic, science and progress bear a legacy of separation, loneliness and a void in ‘saecula saeculorum’. In contrast to western thoughts and philosophy, Doctor Strange open vistas for salvation beyond order andout of established epistemological thoughts. It is in Kamar-Taj, or Nepal by location, where the western ideological grounds are let loose and finds new dimensions. This is where the Ancient One can suggest to eternity and harmony or coexistence of body and soul.

5. Disorderly Order in Gods Must Be Crazy

Gods Must Be Crazy is a 1980 South African film which is directed by Jamie Uys. It is one of the most acclaimed movies’ of the same series and earned commercial success for South African film industry. Set primarily in South Africa and in Botswana, more specifically in the Kalahari Desert, it entails the story of Kalahari bushman people living harmoniously in small groups. The narrator of movie describes them as “the most contented people in the world” even though they live in a place where no other people dare go.

In this movie, the established corpus of European scientific advancement, philosophical enquiries, social systems, human behavior and the American consumer culture all banishes in the apparent disorder of the Kalahari. Instead an order is brought down upon their world in the form of limitless disorder. The body time or the natural time replaces the machine time. The economic tension over possession of goods and services is beyond the imagination of the bushman since they are hunters and share their foods among the families. Serenity here comes in harmony of relationship, greater unexplainable disorder of the Kalahari, simplicity of the bushman, separation from the modern societies and most of all in the diversity of nature.

The narrator of the movie, Paddy O'Byrne, describe the Kalahari Desert, the bushman people’s life-style and struggle as thus-

“It looks like a paradise, but it is the most treacherous desert in the world: The Kalahari. After the short rainy season.... there are many water holes, and even rivers. But after a few weeks, the water sinks away into the deep Kalahari sand. The water holes dry and the rivers stop flowing…. For the next nine months, there'll be no water to drink. So, most of the animals move away, leaving the blond grass uneaten. Humans avoid the Kalahari like the plague because man must have water. So the beautiful landscapes are devoid of people except for the little people of the Kalahari-- pretty, dainty, small and graceful, the Bushmen” (Gods Must Be Crazy).

In this setting the lives of a group of San people go “in complete isolation” apart from the modern world as the narrator further comments. They even lack the knowledge that “there are other people in the world”. Thus their belief, the religion as we may call it, centers on believing that “the gods put only good and useful things on the earth for them”. They live happily until and unless a bottle of Coca-Cola is carelessly thrown from a helicopter.

As a bushman finds the bottle, at first, he thinks it is a gift from the gods. After sometime, as the members of the family quarrel over the possession of this bottle, the elderly members terms it an ‘evil thing’ that they must get rid of. Within this motto they ask Xi, the tribal leader, played by NǃxauǂToma otherwise called GcaoTekene Coma, to give it back to the gods.

As he journeys to find the gods and give them back the ‘evil thing’ Xi eventually explores the outside world, the chaos engulfing the people, the discontent that people undergo in the city people. With a gigantic task in his shoulder, while roaming in the desert, Xi hunts an animal from the herd that agitates the people and as the plot progresses police send him to the court. Due to the lack of knowledge of a court or judgment, Xi just confesses only to the fact that he killed an animal to eat. This confession results in his detention but Xi cannot fathom the reasons because “they have no crime, no punishment, no violence, no laws.... no police, judges, rulers or bosses (Gods Must Be Crazy)”

Therefore, does the absence of power apparatuses- police, judge, rulers and so on-minimize the number of crimes? It is not tough to answer in a setting where people focus more on familial bonding than personal gain. The Bushmen, for example, share the foods, accommodation and what not to gain collectively as a race. It seems an ideological non-state apparatus is into play here since their concept of state is non-prevalent. Hence there are no crimes in here not even the concept of crime. Each and everything here is in line with the Bushmen’s collective belief of goodness. Each and every person is good and lives harmoniously. This very thing provides solace and salvation from starvation, chaos, dilemmas, sufferings, ambivalence is prevails in the western world of T.S Eliot, Jonathan Swift or in Doctor Strange.

6. Orient as Salvation

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Language the word ‘orient’ denotes to “the countries of the East, especially East Asia” while ‘orientalism’ is defined as “the representation of Asia in a stereotyped way that is regarded as embodying a colonialist attitude.” J.A Cuddon (2014), on the other hand, terms orientalism as something “pertaining to the Orient as discovered, recorded, described, defined, imagined, produced and, in a sense, ‘invented’ by Europe and the West.”However in the introduction to his much celebrated book Orientalism, Edward W. Said (1979) writes ‘orientalism’ is “…a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authorityover the Orient.”

For the discussion’s sake, initially if we consider orient as belonging outside the power, specifically once colonialBritish and French power, and occident belonging to and having the power of British and French, everything adds up. Nepalin “The Waste Land” or in the movie ‘Doctor Strange’ fall into orient category because of its geographical location. Moreover, Botswana or South Africa in the movie “Gods Must Be Crazy” also conforms to the orient category because they lack the power and do not anyway subscribe to the hegemonic power structure that differentiates orient and occident.Both these categoriesignore conformitywith the concept of domination andreject the notion of the occident.

It seems the orient simply does not understand the ambivalence of the totality of undermining, structuring, reshaping or imposition of authority as Edward Said was arguing. Because of this particular ‘ignorance’ and ‘rejection’ of the domination, the west observes the orient as having no knowledge or possibility of improvement. Therefore what matters most for the occident is not only to know the once established ‘exotic, sensual, crazy’ orient but also to take the responsibility of changing it. That is what the white man of the west had been doing during the colonial period. This motto of the west is probably well established by Franz Fanon in his remarkable book named Black Skin, White Maskwhere he writes “what matters is not to know the world but to change it.”(Fanon, 1967)

But it seems the occident cannot change the orient because they cannot rationalize it, analyze it, accept it or adapt with its limitless chaos. As we see in the movie “Gods Must Be Crazy”, the European motor car works very humorously that arouse the laughter among the spectators so does their use of guns. On the other hand, the life of the San tribe goes beyond this triviality of matters. Its citizen lives beyond any kind of trouble from the outside world, except for the trouble of nature. Moreover, European concept of judicial system also seems funny given the context that it is holding trial for a bushman. This sharp contrast of two opposite concepts- the Bushmen have no concept of court while the modern African people adheres to it- draws attention to the reason why complexities prevail in the modern society and not among the bushmen.

Overall, what gives the orient the power of salvation is not its disorder but the harmony covered in disorder. The magnanimity of its existence, the diversity it accommodates and nurtures, the uncontrolled emotion and passion that it nurtures, and the authenticity it promotes among its subjects give the orient the power to heal any kinds of wounds, especially the western wounds. The chaos, sufferings, lack of freedom, ambivalence, perversion and many more are purified in the eastern setting. Probably this is what the movie “Doctor Strange” and the poem “The Waste Land” suggested.

7. Conclusion

T.S Eliot is highly celebrated even today for his complex yet contemporary thematic concern and mysterious way of presenting ideas through allusion. His poetry, especially “The Waste Land” is full of pessimistic aspects that do not sooth the readers rather torments them continuously. His manifestation of nothingness and the depiction of psycho-social and philosophical void cast the readers into sufferings. These sufferings, many critiques believe, from WWI and WWII inspired T.S Eliot greatly.

Unlike T.S Eliot, Jonathan Swift was greatly moved by the extreme political turmoil and a moral degradation in the church during his time. His book Gulliver’s Travels thus incorporates the theme of political bankruptcy, creating dominance, rationalism and an overall misogyny. The final part of the book introduces human very pathetically while the animals are presented like reasonable creatures. Finally, the protagonist’s choice to live with the master horses negates all humankind. Thus Swift brings in the idea of annihilation.

In line with this sufferings and annihilation, the movie “Doctor Strange” entails not only the debacle of western expertise on scientific advancement but also raises hope at the very end. The protagonist finds a probable redemption in the east. It is the east which is full of hope and regeneration of ideas. This east opens vistas of knowledge and new way of looking at life where the titular character Strange represents the western belief and capabilities.

The problem with the west is that it fails to understand the continuous changes of nature which is very fundamental or essential. In this continuous change, time heals or rectifies everything including the suffering and chaos. It is important to note that with the passage of time once established solution sometimes reappears as problem. Therefore the problems are never eliminated rather they reappear in different manners and shapes. To put it mathematically, if time is added with solutions, it becomes problem. The modernist, T.S Eliot and likewise, presumably failed to understand this. Consequently, they looked for solutions sometimes in escapism like the Romantics or sometimes in negation or total rejection of humanity as Jonathan Swift suggested. However, this negation, rejection or continuous rationalization of things do but alienate people.

On the other hand, orient does not anyway assess the existence as having affinity with order or disorder. Thus it can accommodate, nurture or even celebrate the wild exoticism of nature. Being in the state where European rationalism or American consumerism is absent, the stereotypical orient lacks the intention of rationalizing everything. It accepts life as it appears with its civility, wilderness, diversity or the irrationality. Thus orient personifies all nurturing, all accepting and all enduring sphere that can celebrate-

“Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. Shantih shantih shantih.”

Work Cited

1. Anderson, Tyler E. Mr. "Examining Early and Recent Criticism of The Waste Land: A Reassessment". Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English. 36, 2010.
2. Demastes, William, W. Theatre of Chaos: Beyond Absurdism into Orderly Disorder. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005.
3. Denis Donoghue. “The Brainwashing of Gulliver”. The Listener, 96. 1976. p 578-9.
4. Derrickson, Scott. Director. Doctor Strange. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2017.
5. Eliot, T.S. “The Waste Land.” The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. Eds. Margaret Ferguson et al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2005. p. 1344-1356. Print.
6. --- “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. Eds. Margaret Ferguson et al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2005. p 1340- 1343. Print.
7. ---“The Hollow Men.” The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. Eds. Margaret Ferguson et al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2005. p 1356- 1359. Print.
8. ---“The Hollow Men.” The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. Eds. Margaret Ferguson et al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2005. p 1356- 1359. Print.
9. --- “T. S. Eliot Poems.” Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot. www.coldbacon.com/poems/fq.html. [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018].
10. Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam Books. 1988.
11. McGregor, L. T., and Sue L. T. McGregor. “Consumerism and Peace from a Post-Modern Perspective.” Academia.edu, www.academia.edu/4191707/Consumerism_and_peace_from_a_post-modern_perspective.
12. Rhee, Semy. "Post-War Europe: The Waste Land as a Metaphor". Senior Honors Theses. p. 272, 2012. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/272
13. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979.
14. Shamsuddoha, M. Swift’s Moral Satire. University of Dhaka. 1987. p. 73. Print.
15. Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. London: Penguin Classics. 2003. Print.
16. Theses.gla.ac.uk. (2018). Utopia vs. history: Jonathan Swift and the twentieth century - Enlighten: Theses. [online] Available at: http://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/4869 [Accessed 31 Oct. 2018].
17. Uys, Jamie. Director. The Gods Must Be Crazy. New Realm, 1980.

\18. Wikipedia contributors. "Doctor Strange (2016 film)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, Web. 19 Aug. 2018.

Contemporary Literary Review India: Contemporary Literary Review India (CLRI) is a literary journal in English and publishes a wide variety of creative pieces including poems, stories, research papers (literary criticism), book reviews, film reviews, essays, arts, and photography of the best quality of the time. CLRI is an internationally referred journal and publishes authors from around the world. https://literaryjournal.in

Contemporary Literary Review India: Contemporary Literary Review India (CLRI) is a literary journal in English and publishes a wide variety of creative pieces including poems, stories, research papers (literary criticism), book reviews, film reviews, essays, arts, and photography of the best quality of the time. CLRI is an internationally referred journal and publishes authors from around the world. [https://literaryjournal.in

Leaf Press: Leaf Press publishes books, anthologies and academic books with ISBN. We bring out books in paperback, digital and PDF formats. We specialize in publishing English literary books including fiction, story and poetry anthologies, PhD thesis papers and critical analysis. We welcome new authors. Visit our website http://leafpress.in.

Authors & Books: We publish book releases, Press Release about books and authors, book reviews, blurbs, author interviews, and any news related to authors and books for free. We welcomes authors, publishers, and literary agents to send their press releases. Visit our website [https://authornbook.com](https://authornbook.com