This chapter provides us with what I think is one of the key examples of Jackson's failure to appreciate the reasons for which Tolkien was so succesful. I speak of Saruman's spell, causing the storm on Caradhras. To Jackson's way of thinking, the storm is a waste if it does not stem directly from the plot, hence he feels the need to motivate it through Saruman. But in the book the storm has the important function of providing depth, and thus believability, to Middle-earth.
As with the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs, we find that not all evil can be directly traced to Sauron. But more than that, it characterizes Middle-earth. For Tolkien, as some have observed elsewhere, the physical landscape is itself a kind of character. It has its own personality (or personalities); it can aid or obstruct our protagonists; it is a real presence that must be dealt with, the same as any character. The story of the attempted passage of Caradhras is the story of the defeat of a powerful wizard, a king, a warrior, an elf, a dwarf, and four hobbits by nature itself. It's foreshadowed earlier in the chapter:
Quote:
When winter first begins to bite
and stones crack in the frosty night
when pools are black and trees are bare
'tis evil in the Wild to fare.
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Note the capitalized "Wild".
09-27-2004, 07:46 PM
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