John Garth #1: Cynicism vs the preservation of heroic ideals
As most of you know, John Garth is a journalist based in London whose 2003 book
“Tolkien and the Great War” examined Tolkien’s work in the light of his WW I
experiences. At Marquette, he spoke on “Frodo and the Great War.”
This is the first of two discussion topics reporting on that presentation.
Garth began his talk by suggesting that Tolkien's treatment of ideas of heroism
in his works is related to and significantly different from
that of other post-WW I English fiction. He pointed out that this literary
period is often said to be characterized by a cynical disillusionment with
ideals, including traditional or romantic ideals
of heroism, and that in his view, the typical fictional protagonist from this
period is a passive or helpless sufferer rather than the powerful hero more
popular in fiction before this time. He believes that this is due to the
collision these authors experienced between their prewar, Edwardian
romanticism, and the reality of helplessness and overwhelming horror they
experienced on the battlefield. In his opinion, LoTR's juxtaposition of
the suffering (yet in Tolkien's view
valiant, not passive or hopeless) Frodo with a variety of more traditionally
glorious (yet inevitably doomed and ultimately less powerful) warrior heroes,
represents Tolkien struggling with this same collision, but attempting to reach
a solution other than cynicism.
In attempting to show that these were the issues on Tolkien's mind in
putting these elements together, Garth began by pointing out that Tolkien used
a specifically military analogy in his response to those who deride fantasy as
"escapist," saying that the escape into fantasy is the escape of the
prisoner-of-war (i.e., a positive duty), rather than the escape of the
deserter. He went on to argue that the stories of BoLT, before LoTR,
already show a movement from more traditionally "heroic" protagonists in the
earlier stories to more complex and darker figures in the later ones. He
suggested
that this movement was a precursor to the development of Bilbo and Frodo, and
the juxtaposition of them and their sufferings with the exploits of
traditionally glorious heroes in LoTR. He pointed out that the contrast
between the "pervasive...urgent need to hide" in
Frodo and Sam's journey and the stirring battles in Rohan and Gondor, parallels
the contrast between the realities of trench warfare and the "pennants and
horns of medieval romance." Similarly, Frodo's experience of "individual loss
but general victory" in his view
parallels the experience of Tolkien and others who were forced to leave the war
due to illness or injury, without the comfort of any sense of personal
success. Though other authors responded to this experience with
disillusionment, he argued, in Frodo Tolkien created a
hero who suffered and "failed" but still earned the same great honor
that was owed to traditional heroes.
1) What do you think of the idea that LoTR represents an attempt to find an
accommodation between traditional ideals of glory and heroism on the one
hand, and Tolkien's (and his generation's) specific experience as
Edwardians torn from their safe and relatively
prosperous lives and thrust into the horror of WW I, on the other hand? Does it
affect your enjoyment of the book to think of it from this point of view, and
if so, positively or negatively?
2) Are there other authors from this period who seemed to be writing
about the passing of heroic ideals as Tolkien does (if you agree with
Garth), in a spirit of mourning, but preserved hope, that contrasts with
a more pervasive postwar zeitgeist of cynicism and disillusionment?
3) Any other thoughts on Garth's observations about how Tolkien and his
contemporaries wrote about
heroism?
Miss Darcy looked as if she wished for courage enough to join in...; and sometimes did venture a short sentence, when there was least danger of its being heard.--
Jane Austen
