I remember a long time ago, Varda mentioned something to the effect
that nobody seemed to have seen (or even cared for?) what was going on
in Middle-Earth while Sauron’s power was getting stronger and stronger.
Where were they all, she was saying. Was no-one aware that a threat was
growing? Where were the leaders, she said then. Where was Gandalf (and
the other Istari) when Saruman was turning into evil?
Well, it has been on my mind lately that LOTR and all the good things
that happen in it seem to be in fact reactions to a situation that
threatens no less than the survival of a whole world. How could that
have happened? Why was Sauron’s 'mischiefs' not detected and acted upon
earlier? Where were the High Elves, Galadriel, Elrond, where was
Gandalf and all the wizards, so wise and knowledgeable? Where was Tom
Bombadil? Why did they have to wait for so long? Would not this have
prevented a good hobbit from being tortured and destroyed?
And if we are to extend that idea a little further, does it take wars
and extreme situations in order to bring forth heroes? Could heroism
even exist without something to react to, some danger, some menacing
threat? Could there be heroes in a society where everyone would be
responsible for themselves, where common good would be a constant
preoccupation, where everybody would tend to their own lands and people
as if they were ‘stewards’ and ‘gardeners’, acting towards the good
maintenance of life and its beauty?
Unfortunately, we seem to see heroes only in those who fight evil, an
evil that is often promoted by sheer laxity.
I know, I know, this is borderline to utopia, if not utterly
preposterous :-) but my aim is to bring the discussion on this idea
that LOTR is a novel about extreme situations/emotions, and that
instead of putting forward the necessity to ACT towards good and the
‘maintenance’ of what is good, it seems to show that great things and
people will only arise in danger and during threats, and that what is
truly valued is REACTION and not ACTION.
I know, people will say : “Well, that’s the human nature, and
unfortunately this is how it works in the world, we wait until
something threatens our universe for us to move”. But then, what about
all the people quietly trying to take care of the world -- of
themselves even -- in order to achieve their own full potential, in
order to try to make the world around them give their best fruits? What
about all those ‘gardeners’ trying to maintain equilibrium and promote
life and beauty and goodness, as they would of plants and trees? Are
they not heroes as well?
Now don’t get me wrong, I admire heroes and people who sacrifice
themselves for others or the common good, I am not questioning that at
all. When reaction is needed you just have to react and do what you
think is right. I am only wondering why do we need danger and living on
the edge of destruction to do something, and why does it take that to
find some purpose in life? Why does it seem more valuable, and more
‘exciting’ to fight evil than to care for the maintenance of goodness?
