Are Orcs That Bad?

[Lalwendë]

I also don't think absolute Good and Evil exist - in the real world.* However, if you are going to have an enemy which is slaughtered on a massive scale (because if you don't then they will slaughter you on a massive scale) then this brings in doubts as to whether it is right to kill them. And it does make them less frightening.

It actually brings me back around to davem's Fantasy thread, because I start to question if it was morally right that Tolkien should show Orcs, who are not 'pure evil', being slaughtered in such a light fashion. I'm starting to think that gives a slightly dodgy impression (kind of along the lines of "these guys have souls too and are like us, but it's alright if we put them to the sword because they aren't on our side") and that davem may be right in stating Tolkien ought to have shown us more of the grim realities of war, especially if he was going to frame his enemy as being more like a real world enemy than like the traditional fantasy/sci-fi ruthless enemy.




*In all normal circumstances. However at the very extremes of survival I think such notions fly right out of the window.