Salahaddin University, Erbil. 
                            
       Searching for Faith in T.S. Eliot’s Journey of the Magi 
                   A Graduation Research Project 
       Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements 
             for the Degree of B.A in English Language & Literature 
                            
                          by:  
                   Muhammad Asghar Hamid 
                            
                       Supervised by: 
                  Asst. Lecturer: Yousif Najat Awla  
                            
                            
                        2021-2022 
                            
                         Abstract 
          The research aims at finding out the search for faith in T.S Eliot's famous 
       poem: “Journey of the Magi”. The paper throws light on the process of religion in 
       modernism or religion in the twentieth century. This research deals with the search 
       for faith in one of the poems written by T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) the " Journey of the 
       magi ". It shows how religion affected people in the period of modernism. At the 
       beginning of this process is the introduction about a brief biography of the author 
       and a summary of the poems. Also in section one, the study deals with religion 
       during modernism and in the twentieth century. Most people did not believe in 
       religion after World War I due to the miserable life they had. Moreover, in section 
       two, the writer describes religion in his poems. He also sheds light on how people 
       are returning to religion. Lastly, the writer tries to describe the life between birth 
       and death.  
       Keywords: faith, T.S. Eliot, “Journey of the Magi”, modernism, religion.  
        
        
        
        
        
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                         Introduction 
       1-1 T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) 
          Thomas Stearns Eliot was born September 28,1888 in St, Louis, Missouri, 
       US. And he died January 4,1965 in London England. He becomes British citizen in 
       1927 at the age of 1937. Subsequently, he renouncing his American citizenship. 
       Eliot owns American-English poem-play write literary critic and editor lender of 
       the modernist movement in poetry in his works as the West Land 1922 and four 
       quarters 1943. In 1948 he was awarded both the order of merits and the Nobel 
       prize for literature. He has studied the first sanitarian church. He has also studied 
       as  the  principal  of  George  Washington  University  and  Smith  academy.  Eliot 
       studied at Harvard, in 1914 he was a graduate student at the University Marburg in 
       Germany. Eliot was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic, editor, 
       and wrote books discussing social and religious themes. Not ably notes toward a 
       definition of culture and the aim of education. His most famous poem The West 
       Land appeared in 1922. It depicts modern civilization as a spiritual void, empty of 
       faith  meaningful  love,  and  paralyzed  by  anxiety  boredom.  Two  of  his  most 
       important poems are (Ash Wednesday,1930) and (four Quarters, 1943) both of the 
       long poems explore religious themes. (Abbott p. 774 and Abbott p.600-615).    
        
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       1-2 Journey of the Magi: A brief background and summary. 
          Journey of the magi is a 43 lines poem was written by T.S. Eliot (1888-
       1965). Journey of the magi is based upon a biblical story. It describes the journey 
       of the three wise men to witness the birth of Jesus Christ. The word “magi” is a 
       permanent  plural  standing  for  the  three  wise  kings  of  the  eastern  world  who 
       travelled to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ. The poem is written in 
       the form of a dramatic monologue spoken by one of the three kings.  
          The poem is divided into three sections, in the first the speaker one of the 
       magi who is looking back on the event after many years, recalls the numerous 
       difficulties of the caravan journey. The second describes their arrival in Bethlehem, 
       nothing that what they found was satisfactory. In the final section, the speaker 
       ponders the meaning and importance of that particular birth. Journey of the magi is 
       the first of several poems that Eliot wrote for this publisher's Faber and Gwyer, for 
       inclusion in a series of one shilling Christmas greeting cards. 
          "Journey of the magi" can be read and appreciated on many levels while it is 
       accessible to casual readers critics have discovered several literary sources that 
       enrich the meaning of the poem, the imagery while again understandable on a 
       surface level may be explored to find multiple themes. Finally, since the poem was 
       written in the year Eliot’s conversion, the quest for the Christ child can be seen as a 
       parallel to Eliot’s religious quest (Ruby, 2000, p.108-112). 
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