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Ethical Themes in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
Introduction
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, has been called by some one of the greatest books of all time and has recently earned the claim of "greatest book of the 20th century" in a poll by Britain's Channel 4 (O'hehir). Yet at the same time scholars have often dismissed The Lord of the Rings as a fanciful children's story. While the validity of either claim can be equally well disputed, the The Lord of the Rings and related works by Tolkien nevertheless embody a very clear and consistent set of ethical themes. These themes define good and evil in terms of nature and provide a framework on which the ethical decisions of individual characters in Tolkien's stories are based.
Good and Evil
Good and evil in Tolkien's work are, to put it simply, that which is natural and that which is unnatural, respectively. That is, what is left alone to follow the cycles of nature is good. Any time that the cycles of nature are disrupted (such as the felling of a forest or the enslavement of a free people), there is evil. There are constant references to this in Tolkien's stories, as when Bilbo Baggins' neighbors remark on his mysterious vigor and extreme old age, "It isn't natural, and trouble will come of it" (21). Or when Sam Gamgee says of the Gandalf the wizard, "Don't let him turn me into anything unnatural" (62). No evil in The Lord of the Rings exists that does not in some way oppose nature, and the goal of the protagonists in the story is the return of their environment to a natural state of peace.
It could be argued that there is nothing that does not fall outside the laws of nature. But this is not the perspective that Tolkien expresses. To him, living in England during the first and second World Wars, the use of technology as a tool of destruction and conquest was "unnatural" and evil. In his books, he embodies the idea of technology as magic. This magic or technology is ultimately evil, since its use, for good or malicious intent, always results in the disruption of the cycles of nature. For example, in Middle Earth (Tolkien's fictional world), the pinnacle of technology is reached in the creation of magic rings. These rings are designed to further the processes of nature, to bring great abundance and prosperity to the land. But nature must return to normal, and before the story ends, the power of these "good" rings is destroyed along with that of the evil One Ring.
This brings up another important aspect of Tolkien's good and evil: once technology (or magic) is used to disrupt nature, only similar technology can be used to combat it. This creates an unfortunate cycle. Those whose have no technology must develop it in order to fight those who threaten them with it. Once a people have defeated their enemy by means of this technology, they have already disrupted the cycles of nature in doing so. Tolkien sees this as the reason behind the persistence of evil. This idea is demonstrated perfectly by the character Saruman, a wizard who studies deeply the science and lore of the rings in order to defeat the enemy who wields the One Ring. He studies the arts of the enemy so well that he becomes a threat to the free world himself, and is revealed as a traitor to those had loved and trusted him. He becomes obsessed with finding the One and using it to destroy the Dark Lord, but the power of the Ring is such that its bearer would become the new Dark Lord.
There is one last point to make about Tolkien's conception of good and evil, and that is this: that evil exists along a continuum. That is, the more unnatural something is, the more evil it is. This can be seen in the way Tolkien uses magic in the story. In Middle Earth, magic is the most dangerous of all technologies, and the more "magical" something appears, the less "natural" it appears. Of all the magic in The Lord of the Rings, the most "unnatural" is that of the Ring itself; you put it on, and you disappear, simple as that. In fact, the Ring's magic is the only magic the reader actually gets to "see" in the book. The wizard Gandalf's magic is very obscure and only alluded to. We never see his character do anything miraculous-a few tricks with fire but nothing "unnatural." The Elves' magic is equally obscure. Their gray-silver cloaks blend in with the surroundings so well the untrained eye might walk right past them, but they are definitely not invisible. This is Tolkien's style. Magic exists in the hands of the good only to combat the more "unnatural" magic of the evil Lord of the Ring.
In the real world, Tolkien's idea of evil could apply to our destruction of the environment, abortion, our use of technology to control nature, genetic modification. For Tolkien, evil originates in the abuse of knowledge. Ignorant persons would not have the tools, the capacities with which to do evil and therefore would not be morally significant beings.
To sum up this section, there are four main points about good and evil that Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings makes:
1. Good is that which is natural; evil is that which is unnatural.
Individual Ethics
The second part of this essay deals with the ethics of individuals, that is, of personal decision making, in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's take on this aspect of ethics is, I believe, summed up in one word: fellowship. I use this word rather than "friendship" not only because this is the word Tolkien himself uses but because it implies a strong friendship-stronger than what we usually think of as friendship. Fellowship can be defined as brotherhood, community, equality and common interest. Fellowship in Tolkien's work is true devotion and true platonic love.
Fellowship is the basis for all the major decisions made by individual characters in the The Lord of the Rings. When faced with the choice of either sacrificing their friends or turning away from the ultimate goal of the Quest, the characters almost always choose their friends. Fellowship comes before all other personal goals and desires, in Tolkien's view. The few times when a character in the story sacrifices fellowship, he is quickly met with disaster and even death, as was Boromir when he tried to take the Ring from Frodo.
Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings is also more important than personal existence. In Tolkien's world the ethical man is he who sacrifices his own life for his friends, his family, his people. Ultimately Boromir proves to be just such a man, and is rewarded with an honorable death. Gandalf also sacrifices himself for the sake of the others, yet he survives, barely, and is rewarded with increased power and wisdom. Yet this sacrifice is always for the fellowship itself and not for the reward that may be in store. This notion of giving one's life for the sake of another is the highest embodiment of fellowship. For Tolkien, no wrong can be done by men to one another when such fellowship exists between them.
Tolkien believes that we ought to trust fellowship, to let it lead our steps. This is shown when Gandalf lets the young hobbits Merry and Pippin come on the journey, saying, "trust rather to their friendship than to great wisdom" (269). It is also shown in the chapter, "The Breaking of the Fellowship," in which Frodo must finally choose between his friends and his Quest. He cannot bear to lead them into danger, so he goes off alone. Yet Sam, his most faithful friend, catches him before he can get away and insists on coming with him. When Frodo gives in and allows Sam to come, all of the sudden he feels relief, and his Quest means little in comparison to his friendship with Sam. It is a fateful moment in the story, which will come to bear on all that subsequently occurs. And Frodo is ultimately rewarded for his trust, as is Sam for his faithfulness.
What Tolkien does not do in The Lord of the Rings is provide an absolutely clear system of choosing between two paths of fellowship. And there are many situations in the book where the characters must do just that. The most obvious of these is when Aragorn must decide whether to rescue the young hobbits who face immediate danger, or to help Frodo who will inevitably face the greatest danger of all. The best Tolkien does with these situations is to say "help those who are most in need," though often he seems to have little more to offer than "follow your heart." Both of these make sense on the surface, but Tolkien provides no criteria for determining who is most in need, or what your heart is truly telling you. All the situations in The Lord of the Rings that fall into this category actually seem to be demonstrations of how some questions cannot be answered only in terms of fellowship. It is at these times that we must truly look into ourselves for answers, as Aragorn does, though hesitant to trust himself.
In summary, fellowship provides the basis for decision-making and therefore individual ethics in The Lord of the Rings. Fellowship comes before personal desire and personal existence. Those who trust to fellowship will achieve unforeseen and rewarding ends. And lastly, while there are questions that cannot be answered only in reference to fellowship, we have the answers within our hearts; we need only to trust ourselves, to make friends with ourselves, to find them.
Conclusion
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings presents a unique view of the nature of good and evil, as well as the ethical value of fellowship. Many more examples of both these concepts can be found all throughout the book. While these ethical ideas may not in themselves provide a complete system of ethics on which to base one's decisions, it is nevertheless interesting to see how they play out in Tolkien's novel. If there is anything that can be said of The Lord of the Rings in general, it is that it displays an amazing amount of consistency in every aspect of the tale. This consistency extends even to its ethics, a rare phenomenon in a book of "fantasy/sci-fi." One may not agree with Tolkien's view of technology or fellowship, but the ideas are well thought-out and well developed in the story. They make the book worth reading whether you consider it a fanciful children's tale as some do, or a masterpiece of its genre, as do I and many others.
Works Cited
O'Hehir, Andrew. "The Book of the Century." Salon.com 4 June 2001. 29 May 2002. <http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2001/06/04/tolkien/>. Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 3 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1994. |
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Copyright©2003 Dylan Bragg |