How Would it Be?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by drigel

A twisted mockery of elves would (for them anyways) = genetic superiority.
Beauty is Deception. Ugliness is Truth. Having your will dominated would be the warm firm hand of the Master Sauron in control of your life, who, after all, knows what is best for you... There can only be one Order, anything else is sacrilege, and an affront to destiny.

It's true that despite what it says in the books, the Men and Orcs and other beings on the side of darkness probably did see things a little differently. We even get a glimpse of that when Shagrat and Gorbag are having a conversation about their duties, the boss, and their own dreams. We know they are on the 'wrong side' because the Author has told us so, but all the same, he does give us these opportunities to stop and consider those beings on the 'other side', including when Sam considers the origins of one of the Men Faramir fells.

Saruman, I firmly believe, was at first trying to deal with the problem of Sauron by attempting to use technology. And thinking of our own world, not many of us would be content if we suddenly went back into the past and lost all our technology (no 'Downs for one thing). There are people who believe that the car equals freedom and who simply love to drive for no other reason than that they get a kick out of it; on the other hand we have people who despise cars, won't have and try to stop other people from having one. It is, in the end, down to point of view who is right and who is wrong.

I've often wondered why Tolkien did not give us more glimpses into the lives and thoughts of those on the opposing side in Middle-earth, as he can often lapse into a slightly grey area (few of his characters are perfect wihtout flaws), but I've come to the conclusion that in an epic tale such as LotR it helps to clearly delineate good and evil.

That leads me on to what Alatar has said:

Originally Posted by alatar

Surely my British cousins have a different take on what we 'Mericans call the Revolutionary War. And hearing worldly points of view regarding my country is always refreshing...it's good to know how you're perceived, even if it's poorly.

I rarely hear anyone mention the loss of America from the British empire, though some of our snooty attitudes towards Americans might stem from that past history. But what does interest me is that while Communism has almost universally been viewed as evil in the US, it is not the case in the UK. Things which posed the good US against the evil USSR have often met with bemusement over here - I'm thinking of one of the Rocky films as an example (I think it was 3 where Stallone faced the Russian boxer?); in the UK people often couldn't figure out why the two countries (or more likely, their leaders) hated each other quite so much.

As you say, it was you who introduced the two supposed 'enemies' to each other and it was you who chose to write on here about their reactions, so this would also suggest that again it is you who has the curiosity to understand both sides of the argument. That to me suggests that it is an individual thing as to whether we are able or willing to consider other people's points of view. Likewise with LotR, there are plenty of fans who simply don't want to know about the Orcs, they just want to hear about Elves - but Tolkien left enough hints in there for those of us who want to hear the other side so it's no surprise that some of us do get interested.