Re-reading Tolkien: goodness as a thief in the night

[fictualities]

The Lord of the Rings is a book that plays its cards pretty close to its chest; although both readers and the hero may very well suspect what the hero's task will be -- to go to Mordor and destroy the Ring -- this is not actually confirmed until page 350. That's enough space for most stories to get at least three-quarters of their main business

Comments

[cs_luis]

...I just wanted to tell you that I am loving these posts from you; it feels like I'm reading alongside! :-)

[fictualities]

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the posts; it's a huge blast (and totally self-indulgent) to be going through Tolkien in so much loving detail). Believe it or not these posts are much-stripped down versions of my diary entries, where I waffle on at even greater length -- Tolkien repays close attention so beautifully!

[suspect_terrain]

You know, in the context of this analysis, Boromir blowing his own horn at the start of the journey is almost metaphorical overkill, isn't it? (Though in the story itself, it fits in much more cleanly.)

You know, I've always gotten so bent out of shape about the implication that Prisms Are Evil OMG that I completely missed that Saruman has become tacky. :D

If understanding and preservation are your goal in a world where all things change, you'll be particularly prone to the temptation of over-interference: to respond to inevitable change by seeking to dominate it, to impose your own goals on a universe that has other plans.

That's ultimately why even the Three Rings are wrong-headed, isn't it? Even the Three, with their very worthy aims, are an attempt to impose a certain kind of will on the universe. And in the end, even that goal, to preserve things unchanged, is wrong in Tolkien's universe.

[fictualities]

You know, in the context of this analysis, Boromir blowing his own horn at the start of the journey is almost metaphorical overkill, isn't it?

Bwah! You know, I don't know if that expression is British or American. If it's British, Tolkien was being a bit tricky, yes.

I've always gotten so bent out of shape about the implication that Prisms Are Evil OMG that I completely missed that Saruman has become tacky.Hee, I was taking the low road there, wasn't I? You're quite right about the prisms thing; Gandalf has a line there about trying to understand something by destroying it is not exactly smart, and my Inner Rodney always delivers a long diatribe when I get to that part. But yes, quite apart from the ideological argument Tolkien's making there, I do think the robes must have been incredibly tacky. Do you suppose that's why PJ didn't try to show them in the movies? I mean, the tackiness would have been immediately evident if we could SEE it, and possibly PJ thought Saruman's air of lurking menace would be reduced if he

[suspect_terrain]

Do you suppose that's why PJ didn't try to show them in the movies? I mean, the tackiness would have been immediately evident if we could SEE it, and possibly PJ thought Saruman's air of lurking menace would be reduced if he showed up in a robe that looked tie-dyed and said, in essence, "check out my new look!"

I love the movie, and Christopher Lee has this wonderful resonant voice, but, well, "You have chosen the way of PAIN!!!!" wasn't exactly subtle. :D But there is an elegance to the look of the movie that would have been lost if Saruman looked like he had gone to one too many Dead shows

[aussiepeach]

What a wonderful essay. Made me think of the different kinds of good and evil in the book. There are the quiet types of evil - the whisperings of minion Wormtongue, the silent malice of the Old Willow, and the loud, colourful good guys - Tom Bombadil never shuts up!

And trying too hard to preserve things unchanged - that's a pertinent message where I live. I don't like change, but when you resist it you can end up in a time warp, or else dwindle and die.

[fictualities]

First of all, your icon! *gasps* That's really beautiful

[espresso_addict]

For Boromir is all about self-assertion.

Hmm. Whilst I agree in general I think there are two other readings of that line: one that he's mourning/glorifying the lives under his command that have been sacrificed in fighting a war of which the hobbits aren't even aware, and secondly to underline for later use that he knows the perils of Mordor far better than most at the Council.

You become a hero in Tolkien's cosmos by abandoning all efforts to seem like one.

This was one of the ways in which I felt the Jackson films abandoned the Tolkien I know and love with their imbalance at the ending -- all that trumpery and then no scouring to come home to...

[fictualities]

one that he's mourning/glorifying the lives under his command that have been sacrificed in fighting a war of which the hobbits aren't even aware, and secondly to underline for later use that he knows the perils of Mordor far better than most at the Council.Oh yes, to both of these readings. I probably ended up being pretty hard on Boromir in this post, and didn't really mean to be: I think all those motives were operating at once. I do find it interesting that the very first thing he says is this self-assertive, but he genuinely loves his city, and he really HAS been engaged bravely in a long and desperate fight for many years, and all of these experiences make him a force to be reckoned with as well as a genuinely virtuous person -- just as Saruman once was. I think if we don't understand Boromir's very real virtues, that would flatten a complex and interesting character and vastly oversimplify the ethics of the book -- again as with Saruman, Boromir's fall is interesting and important not because he is evil but because he is

[espresso_addict]

Boromir's fall is interesting and important not because he is evil but because he is good.

That's very true, and it's his virtues in many ways that are his fall (love for his country, wish to defeat the enemy) -- which I think is also true of Saruman (intellectual curiosity), one of my all-time favourite Tolkien characters, incidentally.

I did like movie Boromir a lot, though I didn't feel SB fit the part physically (I like my dark grey-eyed Numenorians). The death scene at the end of Fellowship was just wonderful, and goes a long way towards explaining why that's my favourite of the PJ films by a long margin.

that would have been hard to watch.

For me it's so integral to the themes of the book that PJ's version felt truncated. If I had to reduce my filmic dislikes to a short list of three that would be up there (with Faramir & Denethor). I found all the hobbit worship scenes at the end of RotK physically hard to sit through.

[hybridutensil]

Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know that, like cs_luis, I'm absolutely loving these posts :D Such layers and hidden meanings you uncover! Absolutely wonderful :)

[fictualities]

Thanks! I'm so glad you're enjoying reading them -- I'm certainly loving this Tolkien reread! :)