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Originally Posted by Galadriel55
I'm kind of wondering about that too. We're arguing about a letter when we don't know what its about, how personal is it, etc. We can't see the reason for it being published/not published. I don't think they're allowed to tell: otherwise there wouldn't be such a problem. If we only knew... but then, I guess, this topic wouldn't exist.
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As I understand it we're not talking about 'a letter' but about 'correspondence' - a number of letters from Tolkien to his brother, covering part of their lives together & for which these letters are the only documentaion (the Estate have asked for 20 pages of the book to be removed, & the authors feel that that section is so significant that there is no way to remove it & still tell the story of the brother's relationship.
If I was inclined to speculation I would guess we're talking about the Father Francis-Tolkien-Edith 'triangle' situation - which neither authorised biography (Carpenter or Garth) goes into in any depth. Yet, if we read the few references in Carpenter we see that Father Francis Morgan calls the relationship 'evil & foolish' - 'evil' coming from a Catholic priest is not simply a casual turn of phrase - the context is that Father Francis had heard Tolkien had been seen 'with a girl'. As his guardian & only source of income - which Morgan threatens to withdraw, leaving Tolkien unable to continue with his education - Tolkien is in no position to disobey.
Of course, I could be completely wrong here but that seems to be the only event of significance in the young Tolkien's life that is never really discussed. Spending ones formative years being brought up by a man who sees relationships with women as 'evil & foolish' is hardly likely to engender a healthy view of women (& may be significant as regards the portrayal of female characters in his books - who seem to be Virgin Mary figures like Elbereth & Galadriel, 'Mumsy' figures like Rosie, harridans like Lobelia or Erendis, or Shield Maidens like Eowyn - unlike the more complex & 'human' male characters). However, if I am right then I could understand that anything 'negative' about the Father Francis period would not go down well with a Catholic family like the Tolkiens.