Ethics and Form in the Lord of the Rings

2 Ethics and Form in The Lord of the Rings Rhetorically, the The Lord of the Rings seems to insist on being read in conjunction with the ‘Silmarillion’ material from Tolkien’s greater leg- endarium. For reasons specified in Chapter 1 this book draws primarily on the version of Tolkien’s mythology presented in The Silmarillion. Contextual information from the publication history of The Lord of the Rings underscores the necessity of reading these texts together: Tolkien broke his longstanding agreement for publication with Allen & Unwin on the prospect of having The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings jointly published (Scull and Hammond, 2006, p. 542). Drawing on the theoretical and methodological basis presented in the Introduction, this chapter gives a literary analysis of ethical aspects of The Lord of the Rings.1 Narrative voice and perspective A central voice in The Lord of the Rings is the narrator. In the prologue, the narrator marks his temporal distance from the narrated events by saying that ‘Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed’ (LotR 2). The narrator is cast in the role of historian, framing the narrative as a past-event historical account. This situates him somewhere in the future with respect to the narrated events – perhaps in the Fourth Age, the Age of Men, and allows him to regard the narrated events in a historical context. It also enables him to furnish the reader with ‘anthropological’ information concerning the racial and cultural characteristics of hobbits. This last point underscores the narrator’s position as that of a scientist and scholar, implying a certain claim on rendering the tale from an objec- tive, disinterested view of events. He also carefully outlines his historical 25 L. Guanio-Uluru, Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature © Lykke Guanio-Uluru 2015 26 Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature sources, which are mainly first-hand witness accounts from the War of the Ring: This account of the end of the Third Age is drawn mainly from the Red Book of Westmarch.2 (…) It was in origin Bilbo’s private diary, which he took with him to Rivendell. Frodo brought it back to the Shire, together with many loose leaves of notes, and during S.R 1420–1 he nearly filled its pages with his account of the War. But annexed to it, and preserved with it, probably in a single red case, were the three large volumes, bound in red leather, that Bilbo gave him as a parting gift. To these four volumes there was added in Westmarch a fifth containing commentaries, genealogies, and various other matter concerning the hobbit members of the Fellowship. (LotR 14) The reader further learns in this prologue that both Merry and Pippin kept libraries at their homes, and that Merry wrote several books on the history of Rohan and Eriador, as well as a book discussing the differ- ences between the various calendars of the peoples of Middle-earth. He was assisted in this by the sons of Elrond, who remained in Rivendell. Pippin also collected many manuscripts from Gondor concerning the histories of Elendil, Númenor and the rising of Sauron. Adding to this detailed information in the prologue, towards the end of the narrative the reader learns that Frodo presents Sam with the Red Book after having written his own account of the War of the Ring within it, and says that the last pages are for Sam to fill. This comprehensive account of source material represents the narrator as a meticulous scholar, con- cerned to account for and render his sources accurately. In addition to commending his reliability, it also accounts for the focalization of the various parts of the tale, which is seen through the eyes of Frodo, Pippin, Merry and Sam in the nature of first hand witnessing. It further builds the credibility of the historical comments of the narrator who places the witness accounts of the War in a larger framework and context. The narrator’s voice and focalization further function as devices for colouring the reader’s value judgements of the story, since the narrator’s voice throughout is firmly anchored on the side of ‘good’. Due to the nature of the historical source material, the subjects of the focalization of the War of the Ring are the Fellowship of the Ring; and particularly the four hobbits. The reader gets little information about the deliberations, thoughts and intentions of the Enemy which – save for the Ethics and Form in The Lord of the Rings 27 overheard bickering of Orcs – is always focalized by the narrator, the hobbits and the Fellowship of the Ring. Through the use of this form of ‘historic’ narration – the recounting of events as having occurred at specific times on a historical continuum – the narrator establishes his fictional tale as ‘real’. The appendices with maps, family trees, calendars and linguistic information all take part in making the mythical realm of Middle-earth seem solid, well estab- lished and believable. This emphasis on ‘factual’ information serves to heighten the impact of the tale on the reader, both in terms of closeness of identification as well as in terms of the reader’s investment in the ‘facts’ of the fictional world. In Phelan’s terminology, this prologue fore- grounds the mimetic3 components of the narrative, in order to engage the reader’s interest in the characters as ‘possible people’. A strong narrative identification on the part of the reader would underscore the tendency of the reader to carry over to his or her own life the implica- tions of any value-lessons purported by the tale. The focalization of different parts of the narrative is important to consider in the interpretation of the value system invoked by a narrative as a whole. In The Lord of the Rings the focalization shifts as the story progresses. Books I and II, The Fellowship of the Ringg, are primarily focalized through Frodo, and the reader follows him as he inherits the Ring, learns of its true nature and sets out on the quest to destroy it. How much the reader has become invested in Frodo as the filtering consciousness of the tale only becomes evident when a distinct coun- terview is set up in the narration: first through Frodo’s encounter with Tom Bombadil, and later through the contrasting outlook of Sam, who, like Bombadil but unlike Frodo, is able to see through the Ring’s illusory projections of total power. Furthermore, as the Fellowship splits up, there is an increase in the number of perceiving entities or focalizers. These focalization shifts are sustained for the duration of up to a book or longer, so that they are significant in the organizing of the narrative as a whole by creating a ‘branching out’ of the narrative’s form. In Book III the narrative follows Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli as they array Boromir for his boat funeral and pursue the Orcs that captured Merry and Pippin. The reader then follows Merry and Pippin as they are captured by Orcs, escape and meet Treebeard the Ent, and eventually as they reunite with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli and compare notes in Saruman’s stronghold Isengard, which has been demolished by the Ents. In Book IV the narrative traces Frodo and Sam as they journey toward Mt Doom guided by Gollum / Sméagol. During this book the focalization shifts from Frodo to Sam. This is 28 Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature signalled in the opening sentence of Book IV: ‘“Well, master, we’re in a fix and no mistake,” said Sam Gamgee’ (LotR 603). This shift could be justified in terms of the detailed information pro- vided regarding the narrator’s source material: as Frodo seems to grow steadily wearier and more introvert during the progression through Mordor, Sam’s detailed account of that leg of the journey would be more interesting and comprehensive as a historical source. Thus one learns of the ways in which Sam’s views differ from those of his master: in Sam’s misgivings towards Gollum, for example (he does not share Frodo’s pity for Gollum and several times votes for killing him), or in Sam’s belief that his Elvish rope untied itself as he called to it (Frodo sees this as accidental). Sam’s strong fascination with, and admiration for, Elves associates him with hope and faith where Frodo, who has essentially lost all hope, is car- ried along above all by a dogged sense of duty. Consequently, the shift in focalization from Frodo to Sam also serves to deepen and elaborate both characters in contrasting their opinions and views. Sam represents the practical and down to earth reactions, but also has a greater curiosity about ‘magic’.4 He is portrayed as a more ‘folksy’ kind of hobbit than his ‘Master Frodo’, who is described by Sam’s father as ‘a very nice well-spoken gentle- hobbit’ (LotR 22), clearly signalling the class difference between the two. His lower social standing does not indicate that Sam lacks nobility of spirit: the reader is several times privy to Sam’s deliberations regarding the supply of food and water, and learns that he deprives himself of both in order to keep Frodo going on larger rations. Even as Book IV is mainly focalized through Sam, so the reader sees and knows pretty much what Sam sees and knows, there are passages where the narrator discloses himself: ‘The Hobbits were now wholly in the hands of Gollum.

Load more