To the Indian Who Died in Africa by T.S. Eliot

The 20th century witnessed few greater poets than T.S. Eliot who exercised more influence on formation of the modern style of writing poetry for more than forty years. Not only was his style distinct but he also used conversational speech laden with complex poetic images with layers of diverse thoughts to portray various aspects of life. The poet was fond of allusions and he very effectively used them to convey a wealth of meaning through just a few lines. This individuality of Eliot is perhaps best expressed in his magnum opus -'The Waste Land.' The canon of Karma and detachment as propagated in the Hindu philosophy was not unknown to Eliot and the present poem highlights these principles.

Themes That man should pursue his actions with a spirit of detachment is the main theme of this somber poem. Exactly such a theme has been enunciated in the Bhagavad-Gita by which the poet seems to be substantially inspired. The Bhagavad-Gita advises to renounce longings for worldly possessions such as riches, fame, family, property and the likes. That is why the poet says that every country is home to one man and exile to other. If a man is conscientiously performing his duty in another country, irrespective of the country of his birth becomes his native land. Therefore, a 'foreign' or 'native' land is but only a relative term in the sense that one has to remain detached from his native land when one has to answer the call of duty. The Indian soldier and his comrades-in-arms including his British allies in the poem are good examples of such persons performing their duty in the alien land, Africa. Some of them are not fated to reach their own country but would die in another man's land. Nevertheless, the land on which they sacrifice their lives for a great and common cause, gets to be their home while the land that was their home now ceases to be the same. Their great action would bring its own reward though they would not know of it 'until the judgement after death.'

Another salient theme of the poem is the doctrine of Karma. Through the selfless action of the Indian soldier and his likes in Africa, the philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita is echoed that - "To action alone has thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of actions be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction". T.S. Eliot says in the last line of the third stanza that wherever he dies bravely that soil is his. It occurs to the poet that the soldiers of different countries fighting for a common objective may not know the outcome of their strivings. Nevertheless, this possibility does not diminish the worth of their sacrifice. They become immortal as they are glorified in the memory of their people through their sublime act. The judgement after death shows the poet's preoccupation with the Christian doctrine 'of the last judgement' as mentioned in the Old Testament.

Stanza 1

A man naturally yearns to be at his home if he happens to be working in another country. He keeps on looking forward to returning to his home and hearth and for the food so lovingly cooked by his wife. He waits for the happy hours when he will be sitting peacefully on the steps of his door, enjoying the setting sun while watching his grandson playing with the neighbour's children in the dust in front of his house. The soldier anticipates going through these pleasant experiences once he is safely home after the war is over.

Stanza 2

The soldier was lucky enough to survive the war though he bore many a scar on his body from the battle. The memories of the war and his comrades-in-arms coming from another country, who were fighting away from their homeland like him are fresh in his mind. These remembrances crowd in his psyche whenever he sits and talks to people irrespective of the climate being cool or warm in his country. It is true that the men he met in foreign places were foreigners but they were not aliens in the sense that they shared the common purpose of fighting against a common enemy.

Stanza 3

A soldier may not stay in his country or die there. His fate may take him away to fight a battle in a far-off land. A land which is home to one is exile to another. However, the country where a soldier lays down his life while fighting, turns into his homeland whereas the land of his birth becomes a foreign land for him. The poet hopes that the soldier's countrymen will appreciate the legitimacy of this abstraction.

Stanza 4

While thinking of the dead Indian soldier, it occurs to the poet that Africa where the Indian and the British soldiers came to engage in a battle, belonged to neither of them. Some of the English soldiers came from the Midlands in England and some of the Indian soldiers belonged to the land of the five rivers (Punjab) but those among them who were killed in the war, will be buried in the same graveyard in Africa, so far away from their native country. It is only the soldiers who return alive from the war, will narrate the great saga of their dead comrades to their brethren when they reach home. The sublime sacrifice that they made in a foreign land for a common cause, will kindle the same great spirit in other men in the years to come, hopes the poet. We must realize that selfless action never goes without its own reward.

Q. State briefly the theme of the poem.

                The poem contains a number of themes and layers of thoughts so characteristic of a poet like Eliot’s stature.

                That pursuing actions in one’s life with absolute detachment without any concern for the fruits of one’s labour is the main theme of this rather complex poem. Eliot, who was an extraordinary poet as well as a scholar, seems to be inspired by the sayings of the Bhagavad-Gita while choosing this theme. The soldiers’ sense of duty made him willingly go to Africa where some of them laid down their lives with this philosophy in their heart. As a result, the foreign land where they died in the course of performing their duty becomes their home and the country of their birth becomes an alien land. Their sublime action would bring its own reward though they would not know it.

                Again the canon of Selfless Action or Nishkam Karma is another thematic element of the poem. It is in the spirit of selfless action that the soldiers go wherever his duty demands him to be. Some of them get killed abroad far away from their home but their self-sacrifice not only render them immortal in the memory of their people but also make their souls face the day of ‘The Last Judgement’ (The Old Testament)  with their heads held high.

Q. “A soldier has no home but a purpose.” How far is the statement
applicable in the context of the poem?         Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) was one of the most outstanding
poets of the twentieth century who had been exercising great influence
on the formation of the modern style of writing poetry for more than
forty years. 
        The soldiers in the poem—‘To the Indian Who Died in Africa’, battle
in a foreign land with their British allies for a common purpose. It
does not matter that they are fighting the war in Africa far away from
their home because a soldier is expected to fight in whichever country
their duty bids them to go. If even he dies there while fighting, it
does not matter because the foreign country then becomes his home in
the sense that he has achieved the sublime purpose of remaining true
to the creed of a soldier till his last breath. 
        Eliot writes—
        ‘Where a man dies bravely
At one with his destiny, that soil is his’. 
        Therefore, it is obvious that a true soldier does never regret laying
down his life in an alien land as he knows that the call of duty,
wherever it takes him and however fraught with danger, is much more
preferable than remaining safe and secure in his homeland. Finally
taking cue from religion, the poet affirms that the soldiers killed in
an alien land, since they were able to meet their purpose, would be
rewarded though they would not come to know it until after their death
on the day of ‘The Last Judgement’ as enunciated in the Old Testament. 




Extract: 
This was not your land, or ours: but a village in the Midlands,
And one in the Five Rivers, may have the same graveyard.
Let those who go home tell the same story of you:
Of action with a common purpose, action
None the less fruitful if neither you nor we
Know, until the judgement after death,
What is the fruit of action. 
v) As per the poem, what are the consequences of sacrificing one’s
life in a war? 
        His noble act gets etched in the memory of his people making him
immortal in his countrymen’s mind and the country where he lays down
his life if even it happens to be a foreign one, becomes his own land.
It is this selfless action of his that would bring its own reward
though they would not know of it until after their death. (according
to the Christian doctrine of ‘The Last Judgement’ as propagated in The
Old Testament) 
vi) State briefly the theme of the poem. 
        The pursuit of one’s action should take place with a spirit of
detachment and that one should perform one’s deeds without having a
desire for the fruit of one’s actions are the two main themes of the
poem. 
Brief Essay Type Question of 10 Marks 
Q. Discuss a few figures of speech used by Eliot in this poem. 
        1. Forming a mental picture with words is known as imagery. 
Example— 
        To sit in front of his own door at sunset
        And see his grandson and his neighbour’s grandson
        Playing in the dust together. 
        2. Allusion is a brief reference to a person, place or thing. 
Example- 
        a) Know, until the judgement after death,
        What is the fruit of action. (Old Testament) 
        b) This was not your land, or ours : but a village in the
Midlands,…..(the Buddhist attitude of detachment) 
        3. Repetition emphasizes a given point. 
Example- 
        Of foreign men, who fought in foreign places,
        Foreign to each other. 
Eliot emphasizes here that the soldiers who fought in South Africa
were foreigners and that the battle ground was in a foreign land. 
        4. Epigram:- An epigram is a phrase or sentence that drives home a
point or idea in a clever or amusing way. 
        Example- 
        A man’s destination is not his destiny
        Every country is home to one man
        And exile to another. 
Narrating something in a casual manner, Eliot makes use of an epigram
to heighten the effect of his message.