In The Waste Land, who is Phlebas, the Phoenician in Section IV “Death by Water”?

Correct option is A

Phlebas, the Phoenician, is a drowned sailor in the section "Death by Water." His death serves as a warning about the inevitability of mortality and the transient nature of human ambitions. T.S. Eliot uses Phlebas to explore themes of time, death, and the futility of worldly pursuits.
Information Booster:
1. The image of Phlebas emphasizes the cleansing yet destructive power of water.
2. Reflects Eliot’s preoccupation with death and rebirth, central to The Waste Land.
3. Phlebas is a symbolic figure, representing the passage of time and the vanity of material pursuits.
4. Highlights the poem’s motif of spiritual decay and the search for renewal.
Additional Information:
· (b) A politician: Incorrect, as the poem does not reference political figures here.
· (c) A soothsayer: Irrelevant; Phlebas is a sailor, not a prophetic figure.
· (d) A clerk: Unrelated to Phlebas’s role in the narrative.