Posted: September 07, 1999 at 21:00:19: by Michael Martinez
: Recently, I read a review of the Lord of the Rings, which
: claimed that anyone who bought the book was "funding racism",
: and that as a result the book should be banned! I don't
: propose to recite the arguments that have been put so well by
: Michael Martinez, and which completely demolish that argument.
: My question is why do some people who (presumably) have read
: the book misinterpret it so badly?We each see the book in the light of our own beliefs and experiences. That is undoubtedly why some issues, such as Balrog wings and Bombadil's nature, will always be debated. People just cannot see everything the same way. I recall reading a story in college (for an English lit class) which evoked memories of my own childhood so strongly I projected them onto the story and argued with my professor in front of the class over his analysis of the story. It was only after he made a comment about not recalling a certain incident being in the story that I realized (much to my embarassment) what I had unconsciously done. The process of projecting what we want to see or think we should see occurs throughout our lives, though it probably is not always as strong as that incident was with me. And since literature -- especially good literature -- attempts to evoke strong reactive emotion in the reader, then it's plausible to assume that for some people (though not necessarily for all who say the book is racist, or who take any sort of position that may seem to be in the minority) the urge to project onto the story what is not there becomes too strong. For my part, I have tried not to stumble into that sort of mistake again. But I would hold it against no one else who made the same error.
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