The White Council

Modern Issues in Tolkien (was Re: Frodo and Sam )

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

[snip]

There seems to be a common thread running through several recent postings: Tolkien's views on women (feminism); Why is Tolkien so misunderstood (racism); and now Frodo and Sam (sexuality). I have even heard of criticism (though not here) regarding pipeweed and ale, to which, regrettably, I have never had a chance to respond.

While I in no way wish to discourage or criticise such discussions and am glad that there is a forum where such matters can be talked about sensibly, I do feel that it might be time to point out that the books were written (largely) in the first half of this century but hearken back to an even earlier time when people had more important things to worry about than the fact that Gandalf being an (occasional) smoker may influence younger readers (although it probably influenced me!) or whether it is good to let females travel alone through dangerous lands just because it would be seen to be more equal.

The Lord of the Rings is technically a romance (in the literary sense). Tolkien's themes are not the nitty gritty issues of today such as equality, sexuality or health, they are mythic, universal: Michael has, in his excellent essay, pointed to Death (I prefer Mortality) as being one of the major themes of the whole "mythos" (don't like that word - pretentious but useful), although I do not agree with his assessment that it is The Theme (in my opinion there are others such as Redemption and Purpose ) I will concur that it is important. I can think of few popular modern novels that deal with these areas in such an accessible manner and I challenge anyone to name one as widely read (or as sadly misunderstood) as the Lord of the Rings.

I believe that much of the LoTR/Hobbit/Silamarillion series is deeply but unavoidably (for such a task of sub-creation) flawed, mostly for literary reasons (on an intellectual level), and there are a couple of areas which really annoy me as a "modern" person, for example, the master/servant relationship between Frodo and Sam is profoundly irritating and Tolkien is horribly obsequious in his treatment of social class, but this doesn't matter, I love the book, always will I guess. It inspires me. It is my "Good Book" from where I obtain large chunks of my morality (such as it is). It is also a refuge (not an escape) from the ever accelerating pace of life (how pleasant to retreat from commuting, work, peer pressure etc etc to Bombadil's House on the Hill, Imladris, Lothlorien the Dreamflower, The Green Dragon at Bywater). The last thing I want to think about when wandering in Middle Earth is gender politics.

Tolkien rails constantly at progress for the sake of it throughout the series (interestingly, we note his sympathies are broadly in agreement with elvish concerns concerning change and decay and wonder what this implies, but I digress...). As far as I can imagine, the only modern issue I think that he would have any sympathy for is environmentalism but this does not mean that the books are right wing, on the contrary the characters exhibit enormous generosity of spirit throughout, it certainly does not mean that those of us who love Tolkien's work are consevative in nature.

I suspect we are all being very defensive and preparing our arguments (sharpening our metaphorical swords) for the time when we are called upon to defend ourselves against the oncoming PC darkness (only Illuvatar knows how many times I have had to defend my love of Tolkien against the Monsters and the Critics - mostly my friends). It seems we are ready though. Bring on the Final Battle.