Barliman Butterbrain

[Diamond18]

I'm somewhat skeptical that what I'm pondering hasn't been discussed before, but as the Search function was no help at all, I'll take a gander at a new topic anyway.

In FotR, Aragorn described Barliman Butterbur as:

A fat innkeeper who only remembers his own name because people shout it at him all day.

I must say, all of Butterbur's actions and words back up this harsh statement. Yet, Gandalf assures us that though Barliman is forgetful, he is a shrewd man. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find that passage to quote, so if anyone remembers exactly where it was, I'd be delighted.

What bothers me is that Tolkien seems to show us constantly that Butterbur is rather a ridiculous character with a butterbrain. Then, he tells us through Gandalf that, no, it just looks that way. This is a big no-no in characterization and writing in general. You just don't, with good conscience, show your reader one thing and then tell him/her another.

I've been guilty of this 'sin' many a time, and been reprimanded for it. Thwacked, spanked, etc. So I notice when such an incongruity occurs in The Book of the Century. I get the idea that Tolkien started out writing Butterbur as a funny character to provide some comic relief, but later decided he should be made more serious to match the darkening tone (i.e. in RotK when they return to Scour the Shire, he is less jolly). But this creates two conflicting faces for one character, simply for the sake of the plot. Another no-no.

Frankly, with all due respect to Tolkien's prerogative as the author, I cannot believe that Barliman is shrewd just because he says he is, when he's shown me otherwise. It's like being faced with a photograph and a written description of a person. Suppose the photograph is of a young, blonde girl with pale blue eyes. Yet, the written desciption says, "Jenny is 40 years old, has raven black hair streaked with gray, and a pair of dark green eyes." I'll believe what's in the photograph, even if Jenny herself wrote the description.

So, I will now sit back and await the rebuttals. I wouldn't be surprised if I was missing or forgetting something that plausibly excuses Gandalf's statement, as I can't even find the exact statement. So no need to bludgeon me for densely heretical ideas, I'm perfectly willing to be politely proved wrong. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]