Like Ben said, these are the chapters that make the whole series. It's been fascinating throughout this entire re-read to see how even those of us reared on the series, with the fondest of childhood memories, have been surprisingly ruthless in our adult-eyed evaluations of Tolkien's literary shortcomings. I wonder if someone reading our varied posts might come to the conclusion that we actually disliked the series, that this whole blog is just a hatchet-job against one of our childhood heroes.
But then comes that one chapter--that singular chapter--in each Book, that makes the whole series worth while. In Book I, it was "A Knife in the Dark." In Book II, it was "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm." In Book III it was "The Voice of Saruman." Now in Book IV, the standout is "Shelob's Lair."
And it's not like you can just edit out all the other dross to just focus on the highlights; for what makes each of these chapters work is the pay-off. In Book I, it was the Dark Riders slowly circling in around our hapless Hobbits until they are cornered; in Book II, it was the increasing dread of the Mines of Moriah that exploded in a climax as spectacular as it was tragic; and in Book III, the various machinations of Saruman come to their logical conclusion. You needed all the shaky build-up (maybe the shakiness is part of what builds up the tension, cause you as a reader begin to wonder if Tolkien can pull it off and deliver yet again), for the blow to pack that much more of a punch.
And now here in Book IV, as Ben already noted, Gollum's treachery has been a long time coming--and though I was slightly disappointed that Gollum (not Smeagol, note) has reverted back to a straight villain, undermining whatever hint of hope or redemption his character represented, it is nevertheless hard to get too mad about it when it is couched amidst such a well-executed chapter.
Ben has already touched beautifully on most everything I would have mentioned, and then some, so I'll just confine myself to a side-note here about Mordor as a Necropolis. The term comes from the influential 2003 article "Necropolitics" by the Cameroon philosopher Achille Mbembe; my advisor suggested I read it for my dissertation. As Mbembe explains it, "I have put forward the notion of necropolitics and necropower to account for the various ways in which, in our contemporary world, weapons are deployed in the interest of maximum destruction of persons and the creation of death-worlds, new and unique forms of social existence in which vast populations are subjected to conditions of life conferring upon them the status of living dead" (40). Mbembe is addressing Foucault's concept of biopower, wherein the disciplinary powers of the state are inscribed directly onto the subject's body, which idea Mbembe finds insufficient to fully address the horrors of the modern state, as exemplified by the concentration camp, or the mercenaries and child-soldier armies that permanently roam the borderlands of contemporary Africa, or the Apartheid ghettos of Johannesburg.
I was reminded of the Necropolis based upon Tolkien's description of Shelob's relationship with Sauron, the latter of whom tolerates her presence because she provides "a more sure watch upon that ancient path than any other that his skill could have devised. And Orcs, they were useful slaves, but he had them in plenty. If now and again Shelob caught them to stay her appetite, she was welcome: he could spare them" (423-4). Mordor's is a societal order of endless death, wherein "vast populations are subjected to conditions conferring upon them the status of living dead." The Orcs are always expendable, and the absolutist Mordor state reserves all power to determine who lives or dies for any reason. Everyone and every living thing there exists solely to wind up dead, in an organization explicitly designed to maximize destruction and create "death worlds," which is as apt a description of the Land of Shadows as any.
Mordor is a modern state; it was conceptualized by an author who was fully aware of the concentration camps, and worse--for the Nazi Camps were intended as a "Final" Solution, a horror to be completed, but the Necropolis is intended as a permanent, never-ending, hellish order. This is the type of state, one dedicated solely to total and perpetual destruction, that most sends chills down the spine of Tolkien--as it does Mbembe, too. Again, don't let the retro-medievalism of LoTR fool you; by the measures of our most cutting edge thinkers, this text is incredibly modern.
No comments:
Post a Comment