In section two, the reader is still told that water is dangerous, "If it rains, a closed car at four." However, water is accepted as long as it is comfortable; "The hot water at ten." The Waste Landers are comfortable with this as they expect it and obviously know it can't cause any danger. .
Despite this, water is still regarded with suspicion; the last line of the second section, "A Game of Chess," says "Good night ladies-, this mimics Lil's friend and they are also the last words spoken by Ophelia, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, before she drowns.
The River Thames is the focus for much of the third section, and by now, the Waste Landers are asking themselves why it is that they have lost their love of life, they have become apathetic, for example, in this section, the narrator says, "By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept- However, the Waste Landers can still remember how it was before they lost confidence in themselves, but, the very realisation that something is missing, that something is wrong, is a step in the right direction. Now that they remember what life was like before, they can begin to search for a way out.
Line 48 of the poem is a quote from The Tempest by Shakespeare, when Ferdinand, after a shipwreck has dashed all his hopes, becomes enchanted by a spirit. There is also quotation from Wagner's Ring Opera, when nymphs are singing. Both lead to the conclusion that, if one is attentive enough, one will hear that the nymphs are not departed, as is believed, and so that there is a way back to fertile living. But not everybody hears this and keeps hope.
In section five, Eliot shows the Waste Landers on a quest for water, for refreshing, cleansing water.
"If there were water A spring A pool among the rock Drip drop drip drop drip drop, But there is no water.".
They have not found the way out yet, but they have hope, they are searching, and eventually it must come.
"The limp leaves waited for rain , while the black clouds gathered far distant.
