This paper explains that the lack of water, which is referred to continuously throughout T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land",
is a sign of spiritual
drought and symbolically indicative of infertility and philosophical and
existential stasis. The author points out that water is the primary symbol of the release and awakening from the nightmare of "The Waste Land", and its interpretation offers an alternative to the loss of meaning, which in Eliot's view, characterizes the modern world. The paper relates that water links to the ancient myth of the vegetation god and to the Christian myths because water can be seen to regenerate through suffering and death.