While reading a book, I find it easier to visualize
things rather than
hear things. I don't even know if there's a word that describes the
experience of imagining hearing...as in visualizing is to seeing. But
it does happen. I get songs stuck in my head all the time.
So, when I first read the chapter from TTT
entitled "The Voice of Saruman", I had to sit back for a moment and
imagine the power behind a magical voice...one that could easily
persuade, lure, or intimidate. It wasn't easy to do. And Saruman's
voice, according to the books, is his greatest power. He can
manipulate, call orders, and cast spells to a tremendous extent.
"The voice is our most powerful instrument,"
my grade school music teacher used to say. In part,I therefore thought
that Saruman should have an amazingly clear and reverberating
voice...full of sincerity, emotion, perfect inflection and
amplification. He has the ability to deceive even Gandalf...if for a
moment. For that matter, I felt so fulfilled when I finally heard the
voice of Christopher Lee in the role of Saruman. Lee is so
conscientiously distinctive and learned in his pronunciation of
Tolkien's words that I feel so priveledged to hear him speak in these
movies. To me, his voice goes far beyond what I imagined Saruman's
voice to sound like. For lack of a better analogy, his voice sounds
like a chocolate. It's sweet, dark, and absolutely tempting. And I must
say, on that note, that Lee was a wonderful Dracula in his older
films...although he didn't say much in them.
Anyway, where I work we are constantly
bombarded by salespeople. And they each have their own way of pitching
their products. Some of them are extraordinarily successful, while
others are not. And the successful ones remind me of what Saruman could
achieve with his prominent talent. Saruman, from what I understand,
could explain and teach better than any other being in Middle Earth
(prior to his downfall). And I believe that his downfall could possibly
have been influenced by the power of speech he believed he could rely
on...under any circumstance. He "speaks" with Sauron through the
Palantir, and still he undeniably holds onto his power and authority
through his didactics (though it reduces him to a "yes man" in the
ultimate Corporation of Sauron's Evil Intentions). And because of this
influential power he has, he believes that he could be Sauron's Vice
President...or Executive Assistant or whatever. That is the tragedy of
Saruman. And the thing that adds to it is the fact that people begin to
see through him. Gandalf has become weary of his sales pitch, and
Saruman's calm voice begins to falter. And as my boss always says, "The
salesmen come first thing in the morning...just like bad breath."
By the way, I mean no offense to any
salespeople out there. It's a tough job that I know quite well. The
truly successful ones have a marvelous gift that should not be
condemned or misread. I know that your average telemarketer hates his
job, but I also know that there are a great many people out there who
believe in the product they're selling or the cause they're
supporting...and they do it well. They speak well, and they take the
time to educate us. And as Treebeard (Saruman's ironic adversary)
summed up in the movie, "...never say anything unless it takes a long
time to say." And I think I've taken a too long time with this musing,
but it's very worthwhile to me.
