He speaks of the rats that drag away bones. I think it is important to notice that rats normally bury themselves in the ignored crevices of man-made objects. They are also rather difficult to find wandering out in the open, as they are easily frightened. I believe Eliot is hinting here that these creatures, viewed as the hoarders of human scum, are a representation of everything we have ignored. Humans have devalued the things of importance. We are not simply looking back on an age enshrined on a Grecian urn as Keats did. We have shoved that urn away to the back of an attic where only the rats could find use of it. We are encouraging these scared rats to build a home in the things in which we once found solace. We allow these rats to come out and steal our structure, scattering it in every direction. By forgetting, we've lost our foundation and allowed ourselves to rot in a back alley after allowing weak, frightened creatures to dismember us.
The head rules the belly with the aid of what, now?
Ad augusta per angusta,
Will
P.S. Commented on Brittany's "Adventure Time"
I think you make a really good point here, Will. If we have forsaken the things of importance then we have lost part of ourselves. If the foundation is broken without anything being rebuilt, then soon the whole civilization will scatter. Then, the rats will hold onto the things of importance- without realizing the value- and we will be left with what? The bones of people long dead, with no words of wisdom or direction held in their decomposed hands? Just the collapse of all that is true and good... Sounds like a lovely stroll through a graveyard! ;)
ReplyDeleteI like the point you make here. We are hiding those things that are important to the construction of our civilization. Without those things, we wouldn't be who we are today. Without those things, I don't think we would be any better than the rats. And as you pointed out, we would only be able to perform the most basic of functions. Which makes me think of Nietzche, but I digress.
ReplyDeleteI like how you're saying that the rats, the things we ignore in life, take refuge in the other things we ignore. You also pointed out how the rats are dragging off the human bones. it made me think of how the Bible says that "So the last will be first and the first will be last." (Matt 20:16) The beings that we've looked down on will outlast us and be the only ones to benefit when we're gone.
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