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A Heap of Fragments

This paper examines the multiplicity of the subject in T. S. Eliot's early poetry. Eliot's philosophy contributes to a breakdown of the traditional metaphysics of the unified “self”. Eliot departs from the homogeneous “I” of Occidental metaphysics and envisions the heterogeneous “I”s in his poetry. Eliot gives the subject a spatial role where the numerous “I”s are found in juxtaposition and superposition. This paper traces how Eliot denies the homogeneous “self”. Eliot accepts “finite centres” or “points of view” instead of the “self” and defines the unified self as an “ideal construction”. “A point of view” is conscious of the fragmentary world which, for him or her, is identical with whole universe. Consequently the subject is the composition produced by juxtaposing multiple “points of views.” One “point of view” contains fragmented memories. “I” at present is fabricated by juxtaposition of the various experiences remembered. Moreover the subject mixes the fragments in myths into the consciousness. Thus, Eliot subverts the homogeneous and static “I” and presents the multi-dimensional subject.