Monday, October 5, 2009
Orcs, elves, wizards, men. Oh, and hobbits, of course. J.R.R. Tolkien was a master of creating creatures, but he did more than simply invent interesting characters; he developed entire races, some even complete with histories spanning thousands of years.
But was Tolkien fair? Are his races an accurate portrayal of created beings? Some LotR enthusiasts argue Tolkien created beings which are unrealistically either all good or all wicked.
Elves, for example. Though Tolkien obviously preferred the naturalist lifestyle of the wood-elves over the industrialized society of the Orcs, was he right to make elves wholly good? The entire race of orcs, likewise, are represented as completely evil. Is this an accurate picture of races? Are beings, or groups of beings, entirely good or entirely evil?
I understand some may argue that regardless of whether races of beings are created all good or all wicked, Tolkien has liberty to do what he will, as Middle Earth is his fictitious world. Hasn't he the right to create whichever kinds of beings he pleases, whether they accurately reflect reality or not? Afterall, orcs and hobbits aren't exactly realistic, are they?
I would like to stop here for just a moment and clarify that I do not believe scripture teaches God created multiple races of men, but rather one race of mankind. Dr. Ken Ham, noted creationist, deals with this issue thoroughly and much more intelligently than I could hope to do. I suggest you take a minute to read up a bit here if you disagree with my position on the issue of one human race. Moving on...
I would like to ask those who have read Tolkien and are familiar with Middle Earth and its various inhabitants to consider this critique. Is Tolkien fair? Is he right? Or does he sound a bit too familiar, as one critic I read remarked, likening himself to Hitler in his portrayal of an entirely evil or entire good race?
31 comments:
I reject the idea of morality being determined by ethnicity and thus I would see Tolkien's characterization as overly simple.
That raises an interesting question. What exactly is the relationship between morality and ethnicity?
I agree with Jeff.I don't think that people should determin if a whole race is good or bad just because 1 person may be good/bad.
I Believe That Tolkien Is A Very Very Good Writer. Yet I Do Disagree With Him On His View Of People/Creature's Are Either All Good Or All Bad , but He Did Write The Book and Made Almost Whole Nations Out Of Them . So I Am Both. I Believe He Can Make Those Judgements because he invented Them .I Slso Beleive You Should Not Judge A Whole Group Of People /Creature's .
i think i am going to have to agree with Livo. she made a good piont by saying that Tolkien is the one who wrote the book so who are we to judge it?:)
I think that Tolkien is a great writer, but, I also think that he was wrong to just make a group bad or evil. But then again i agree. You might say, well its his world and he can do what ever he may please with it. Well, Tolkien was very concerned with putting some of his own beliefs into the story.
I also think that Tolkien was right to do that because he did not like comparing things to real life. When he wrote it he probably was not meaning to come across as he did. Tolkien has been gone for some time so no one really knows what he thought when he was writing the fellowship.
But if your asking yourself, how can I say that he is right and wrong, well its because it is my point of view. There are alot of good reasons people belive what they do about this issue but personaly im calling it a draw.
i also disagree with Tolkien because really noting God made can be all good really all he made was all sinful.(well i mean after the fall!) but maybe this is what Tolkien thought the men of the world were like all bad or all good. but not to bust any ones bubble we are all very, very, very sinful, and the only way out is through jesus christ!!!:>
Mrs.Wright, when you say that you believe in one race are you saying that everyone is the same they just look different? Or have i totally misunderstood your point?
Yeah I Do Agree With Livo :D!! Beacause It Is Tolkien's Book, Therefore He Can Do What He Wants. But What I Dont Agree With Is Like Some thing That Hitler Did. He Didnt Like The Jews So He Killed Most Of Them. Not Cool.Thats What I Dont Like At All....... And I dont Know how Mortality Is Related To Ethnicity.
I think that as author tolkien can make his book however he choses without any strong critique. Also, we will soon see much diversity in peoples, especially in the men(humans).In response to ethnicity I believe it is compleately unrelated to morality.Ethnicity started some time after the Tower of Babel.As the people separated to dfferent areas the climate, temperature, and amount of sunlight affected what chemicals of pigmentation were being produced and how much of them was being produced. Thus, giving different skin tones.I also agree with Livo:D on saying tolkien shouldn'd have created a hasty generalization and in favoring tolkiens work.He is a genious!
P.S. his full name is John Ronald Ruel Tolkien
First, in response to Guitar Freak, yes, I believe scripture teaches all humans are one race, but, as September explained, our bodies have adapted to climate or have been affected by DNA in different ways, etc. I believe humans are all of one race - the human race, rather than accepting the idea that there exist many different races of human beings. I hope that helps clear this up.
In response to some of you others, it seems you all agree that Tolkien was not right to make his races either all good or all evil since it is a poor reflection of the various ethnicities (not races) of humans. However, I'd like to ask you to consider what the book might look like if some Orcs were good or some elves were wicked. Would this change the story? How? Did Tolkien write the races as he did because that's the only way the story (or Middle Earth) would work?
Also, no one has said much about whether this critique is actually based on fact. You have all accepted the idea that Tolkien does indeed make all races absolute in their goodness or wickedness. But does he? Consider: Boromir, Bill Ferny, Sauramon.
I hope you're enjoying the blog so far. I am!
One more thing: September, do you really believe an author can write without being subjected to strong critique, regardless if the work is valuable or excellent? I wonder if you are releasing your rights to ever critique a book. Sure you want to do that? :)
I agree with Tolkien because his races are good ideas. But it's not like the real world because no certain race is good and no certain race is bad.
Tolkien did provide some degree of individual variation within his "species" of creatures. Gollum was finally revealed to be hobbit gone bad with lust for the precious ring. Even Bilbo in his old age had fallen under it's spell. Generally though I think the different types of creatures should be understood to represent elements of the human condition, i.e., we all have parts of ourselves that are far more orc-like than elf-like even though we don't want to admit it. Which, reminds me, I believe in the "Hobbit" Tolkien says that Orcs were related to elves but that they had turned to the wrong side of things.
SamG...is this Samwise Gamgee??
:D
I was never really under the impression that elves were all good: In the Silmarillion, Luthien's father King Thingol sent Beren on a quest which he knew he could not accomplish to get him out of the way. That shows a sense of wickedness to their race. Also, they are prideful to a fault(think about The Council of Elrond, they can't get along with the other races even though the fate of the world depends on it.) They also, generally, don't care about the fate of Middle Earth (apart from the few "main" elves) because it doesn't affect them anymore. I think, if they were an entirely "good" race, they would have more of a selfless streak. They're also very cruel to Gollum in Mirkwood (and the elves from Mirkwood are seen in a rather negative light throughout LotR if I remember correctly.) Even Galadriel was tempted to take the ring from Frodo. She ultimately made the good choice, but liked the idea of more, albeit evil, power
Orcs are all bad, I don't know how to combat that. There's not a single instance of an Orc being good. However, Orcs are really just fallen (Very far fallen) elves. In the Silmarillion, Melkor corrupted and tortured elves-- thus breeding the Orcs. I never really thought of them as a humanoid race (although, now that I think about it, they definitely were.) It seemed they were all stupid, ignorant, (fight and work to live) and kept in animal-like states by their "breeders."
And in all of that, I didn't really address the question. Oops.
Yeah, Kendall Does Have A Good Point...:)
Yes you did answer my ouestion Mrs Wright thanks alot. When you asked us what would the book look like if some of the Orcs were good and then some bad i personally think it would ruin the whole book. it would also be harder for the Fellowship because they would not be able to trust anyone if they werent sure who was good and who was bad.:)
so kendall do you think Tolkien was trying to be like the real world or like something else?
I was just wondering!:0
Yall made a good point saying it is not our book to critique, but I also think that he made the races to seam good or bad so they would would fit into the story where he intended to place them. I think tolkien did a great job in creating his characters. To what you said mrs Wright i think tolkien would not have minded for people to talk about if so he wouldnt have published these books. Also i dont think this is anything like Hitler did Hitler did this out of hatred, but tolkien did this to add to his story. In my opinion the reason Tolkien created humans on both sides is if he made thim all good or all bad the story would not be as good because we already know the history of humans so we know that they ar not all good or all bad unlike the other races which are his creation so we know only what he tells us.
I think tht tolkien did a good job in creating his races. In my opinion he made the human race different because the story would be odd if they were all good or all evil because we know there history and know they are neither. What we know about the other races is limited to the knowledge tolkien gives. Alex made a good point i have never thought about it this way until now and the elves do seem a little aragent.
Hmm...good points from most, great points from some. :) I like what MM says about being ignorant about the history of the races, but knowing the history of the human race. Interesting. Answer me, though, do you think Tolkien intended for the men of Middle Earth to have fallen sin natures, with a history dating back to the Garden like the men of our Earth do? While we do see evil vs. good in ME, we don't see the same powers at work as in our world. There seems to be no god in ME at all. What do you think?
Alexis has the most accurate view of the different races (or species, as I think is best to refer to them as). She is right: the creatures of ME can fall, like the Orcs.
I For One Do Think That Tolkien Was Trying to Show How The Real World Is Because Some People Think that Like That The Asians And The Africans Should Be separated Just Beacause The Do Not Look Alike..... Just Like When White People Make Black People Use Different Stuff Than Us....Not Cool At all!!!!!!
Kenzo, I think you are referring to the Jim Crow laws that are no longer upheld...?
Wow the Silmarillion sounds like a really good book. But i guess since Tolkien wrote the book then it probably good. Alexis, i can really tell you like Tolkien. you even taught me something new i never knew that the Orcs were Elves i just thought that they were another creations.:D!!!
Oh I dont know :) I just Know learning about it.......(:
i wish we had more history of tolkiens races which would make the book more interesting
I agree with Sam G. I like how he backed up his information with one of the books,The Hobbit. I like how that quote said that orcs where like elves but they just turned bad. I also like how ***Mickey Mouse*** said that he wishes Tolkien should have written more about the history. I would have just loved to get inside his head when he was writing the series!:P
Kenzo !! You are a copy cat (haha) I used to capitolize every word in a sentence & now you do :P ! lol You do not need to do that :)
mikey when you say that you think that Tolkiens book would be better are you saying that at this very moment that the book is boring or have i misunderstood what you were trying to say. No offense to you either i was just wondering what you ment exactly. Yeah i just used big words.
livo out of curiosity why cant kenzo type in ALL CAPS??!?! i was just wondering,wondering!(LOL):Z
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