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Old 02-27-2011, 09:12 AM   #2
Galadriel55
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This essay didn't make any sense to me. And from what did make sense, I highly disagree. I'm especially bothered by the words "When Tolkien is at his best, as he is in Children of Húrin and in parts of The Silmarillion..." - as if he's not good in LOTR, TH, the rest of The Sil, and others?!

Moreover, I don't see anything wrong with switching style. Tolkien's books describe all kinds of situations, so why not the other type as well?

"The fate of men (or elves, or dwarves) remains external from them, but this certainly isn’t the case in The Lord of the Rings, where moral agency shifts onto the individual, making him responsible when measuring himself against an external moral system, in this case Tolkien’s often maligned good and evil." The fate of men/elves/dwarves still remains external to them in LOTR; and in The Sil+COH they still have their 'moral responsibility'.

"Perhaps the genesis of that problem can be seen in Children of Húrin..." What problem? What genesis? It's saying that COH is spreading some awful thing in JRRT's books! I don't see a problem in COH, but I see one with the author.

"..., in which a reader with some experience with philology wonders why such a cruel fate, usually the whim of fickle gods, can befall Túrin Turambar when Eru Ilúvatar is a benevolent creator." Why doesn't the author actually read COH, then maybe he'll find out why. No, I'm serious! He talks as if COH is supposed to be a fairy-tale with a plot somewhat like Roverandom's (where a real dog is cursed by a wizard to become a toy, and he travels all over the world in order to find the wizard and ask him to change him back). COH is not a light-hearted children's bed-time story. And it's not 'gods', there is only one 'god' involved, and he isn't even a 'god' anymore.

PS: if LOTR is written with a certain style, it doesn't mean that everything has to be.

PPS: Also, I don't think that the style really changes. It's just two different situations, with 2 different characters, and 2 different tasks. The characters act differently, that's all. Are you saying that all characters have to act the same (eg all have to challenge fate, or vice versa)?
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Last edited by Galadriel55; 02-27-2011 at 10:39 AM.
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