Quote:
|
Originally Posted by alatar
The new homes and Shirriff houses aren't just un-Hobbitlike - being above ground and made of bricks - but also are poorly built. To me this is due more to design than in poor or hasty workmanship.
The table in the Shirriff's house in which the Four Companions stay is in need of a good scrubbing. Was cleaning the table against the rules? I think not; yet no hobbit felt the need to clean it. Isn't this like the grimy world of 1984? It's not because the people in each book are poor or are experiencing a hard year, but that the conditions in which they live are set up to break down the spirit. The table could have been cleaned, but no one was motivated to do it, and eventually the dirty dingy table (amongst other things) would be accepted as the norm.
|
Interesting. The ruffians are thieves and they know it; they raise the houses without care. They're there to ravage and steal and take what isn't theirs. But the hobbits don't care for the houses either, as you point out. No sense of ownership. It seems that there's a piece of commentary from Tolkien here, on modern life. Shoddy work is done when, among other reasons, there is no sense of ownership. Is this Tolkien's anti-socialism popping up again?