Quote:
Originally Posted by skip spence
To my mind, Tolkien was indeed conservative and not a follower of 'modenism' at all. He was also a devout christian. And he certainly infused his works with many 'messages' taken from his personal worldview and religious beliefs, some of which Boromir88 have taken up in his excellent post. Nerwen also mentioned how the hippies of the 60's and 70's loved LOtR. One reason why they did so was (I imagime) their agreement with the anti-war message and the ideals of living in harmony with nature expressed in the books.
But do you have to agree that monotomy is a moral obligation to enjoy Tolkien's books? Do you have to share Tolkien's religious beliefs? And can't you favour a secular, capitalist society with focus on technological development but at the same time appreciate nostalgia over past days (real or imagined)?
My answer is no, no, and yes.
I don't judge books according to how well they confirm my opinions. I have a lot of sympathy for Tolkien's ideas but certainly don't agree with all of them. I'm not a religious man nor am I very monogamous. But I love Tolkien's books nevertheless, and the conservative 'messages' in them take nothing away from that.
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Well put, though once again I do not believe Tolkien's books are so 'infused' with so many conservative ideas to take it seriously as a social treatise, or social commentary at all. I suppose what Im saying is that even you're interpretation, to me, is in some way missing the point as well. I do not believe that Tolkien's books are in fact concerned with this subject matter, though as Nerwen mentioned there are indeed themes relating to the missuse of technology.
This idea that Tolkien was a Christian who's faith influenced his worldview I think is overrated as well; indeed he was a Catholic but I think the influence was less in terms of infusing his work with doctrine and more about reconciling aspects of Christianity with Norse myth etc. This hybrid, I believe, we find in the Lord of the Rings, though perhaps even more so in the Silmarillion.
In closing, I don't really believe that Tolkien has to be read as some outdaited pariah of the past; I simply don't think, in reflecting on his letters and his works as a whole, that 'nostalgia' was his point. If that is to be found in the Lord of the Rings I believe it is in the interpretation of the reader, not in the intent of the author. I also believe that ultimately, the Lord of the Rings is not about society, not even good or evil, it is fundementally about life and death, and how these things are dealt with by different races and characters in the legendarium.