‘The Workhouse’ – Tolkien’s Purgatory

[Encaitare]

Many thanks to Estelyn for starting this thread -- I just read Leaf by Niggle and loved it, and I knew that there was something deeper in it but not being Catholic I wasn't sure what. This discussion is very thought-provoking!

From the idea of purgatory as I have come to understand it, I think it makes perfect sense for this to be what Niggle is going through.

First he has the long journey, which he is quite reluctant to make.

He did not want to go, indeed the whole idea was distasteful to him; but he could not get out of it. He knew he would have to start some time, but he did not hurry with his preparations.

This journey seems like a symbolic death, which Niggle knows is coming but doesn't want to face anytime soon. Since he has this great painting which is like his life's work, he fears that he will have to leave on his journey, or 'die,' before his work in life is complete. (This, indeed, happened to Tolkien, as he left so much of his great works unfinished.) But he is forced to go on this journey anyway, leaving everything behind (truly a statement that you "can't take it with you"!).

He was never allowed outside, and the windows all looked inwards. They kept him in the dark for hours at a stretch, ‘to do some thinking,’ they said.

Basically all he is allowed to do is do dull, menial work that requires little to no thought, and then he's left for hours to just think. What else would he think about than his past, and all the things he's done wrong? He is not comfortable, but he is not maltreated either; however all the people are harsh and cold, which would make him think even less of himself and probably make him feel guilty even for bad thoughts he has had. Once he recognizes his 'sins' and comes to understand that he has done wrong in the past, the two Voices agree to at last release him into his paradise of his own creation, where his work has actually manifested into something tangible and perfect -- his own version of Heaven.