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Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man
This distinctly un-class-conscious middle class Englishman rather agrees.  |
'fraid the middle classes are the most class conscious of all - they just like to think they aren't....
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Originally Posted by Bb
Really, I hardly think that a reader needs to know the petty little nuances of English social class distinctions (hah--now there's a double word if ever one existed) at the end of the nineteenth century/early twentieth to enjoy the books or appreciate the fact that food was an important aspect for hobbits. Perhaps these comments highlight just how onerous is Sam's and Frodo's struggle to survive and destroy the Ring when even lembas runs out.
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But its not about the importance of food - its about the importance of language - which is the reason Tolkien expended so much time on getting speech patterns correct. Of course, most readers don't pick up on it - or would care about it if they did. Its a bit like the medieval masons carving stones that wouldn't ever be seen by visitors to Cathedrals, being behind columns or so high as to be impossible to make out - they were building to the glory of God & sought to make their work as perfect as possible.
What kind of characters would throw around neologisms? Bilbo, Frodo, & the other Hobbits don't say 'lunch', they say 'dinner'. Anyone who can't see that the use of such a neologism by two young men about town is significant is missing a very interesting bit of social commentary on Tolkien's part.
Of course, it doesn't matter if all you're concerned about is the story itself. But LotR is not simply a 'story' its a secondary world & the details matter. Of course one can laugh the whole thing off - I suspect Tolkien may have been having fun with the 'lunch' thing too, but that doesn't mean its insignificant.