Chapter 8: The Houses of Healing

Jacob's Thoughts (12/1/16)

So one of my favorite shows of the past few years (as you two have endlessly heard me proselyte) is NBC's Community, an absolutely brilliant, high-concept comedy centered rather inauspiciously around a community college study-group.  It is based on the experiences of creator Dan Harmon (currently of Rick and Morty fame) with a Spanish 101 study group he joined with his girlfriend when he first moved to L.A.; the show was very much his baby, his passion-project, informed and dominated by his sensibilities.  Hence, there was probably no way for the show to win when Harmon was fired at the end of Season 3.  Season 4 is easily considered the nadir of the whole series.  When Harmon was hired back for Season 5, everyone immediately distanced themselves from it by calling it "the year of the gas-leak."

It's difficult to put one's finger on why exactly Season 4 suffered so: most the rest of the same writers returned; as did the same characters, played by the same actors with the same chemistry; there was a similar density of rapid-fire jokes, high-concept episodes, and Post-Modern deconstructions of genre.  Nevertheless, there was just this inescapable feeling that something was simply...off.  The jokes felt more forced, the situations more contrived, the relationships less natural.

Basically, Season 4 felt less like Community than it did Community-fan-fiction. And when Dan Harmon returned to the show, there was a noticeable return to form.

That's all just a round-about way of saying that that's what so much of Book V has felt like to me: less like Tolkien than Tolkien fan-fiction, written by a faithful acolyte who, despite his most slavish fawning, simply can't reproduce the magic of the original.  The situations feel more contrived, the relationships less natural.  Gandalf here feels not so much a person than an exposition machine; Strider is less a human than an idol.  His prophetic "healing hands" in the Minas Tirith med-bay renders him so obviously a Christ-analogue that even Joseph Campbell might consider it a little on-the-nose; this fascinating character no longer gets to have a personality, he is now only an icon.

There are still moments of brilliance in Book V (as did Community Season 4, for that matter), but they grow increasingly lost in the Professor's mad rush to get to the grand finale of Book VI.  But Community Season 4 at least had the excuse that it was missing the guiding hand of its creator; Tolkien, as far as I'm aware, has no one to blame but himself for the blahs of so much of Book V.  He produces his own fan-fic.

Ben's Thoughts (12/23/16)

I just can't bring myself to like these filler chapters. I'm not sure what the purpose of "Houses" can be, other than -- as Jacob noted -- heavy-handed allegory. Why was it necessary to spend so many pages on Aragorn healing Faramir, Merry, and Eowyn?

Part of me argues that it's to establish Aragorn's bona fides as a king, and that probably is what Tolkien is going for. It seems that in his mind, Aragorn must be established as both the proper heir to the throne by lineage -- his direct ancestry to Elendil and Anarion -- but by right as well, and by acceptance by the people. First he pauses before the gate and puts away his emblems of kingship before entering, to mollify the Stewards who have ruled there for so long. Then when he does enter he does so anonymously, hidden in his cloak and only when bidden by Gandalf. And finally, his great work of healing in the city, which earns him the love and trust of the people, is only done when the people "followed after him; and when at last he had supped, men came and prayed that he would heal their kinsmen or their friends whose lives were in peril through hurt or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow." Tolkien establishes Aragorn as no tyrant, but as a benevolent ruler who accepts responsibility when called upon by his people.

But so much about this chapter rings false to me. Are we to believe that Gandalf, the wizard of action that was chomping at the bit to get out into the thick of the battle just a few minutes ago, is going to hang out in the Houses of Healing observing the battle from afar? While he is the main caretaker of the wounded until Aragorn arrives, I think the text makes it plain that there is little he can do for them. But again, are we truly to believe that Gandalf, a Maia spirit, doesn't know about or cannot harness the healing properties of aethelas? Quite unfortunately, the text supports the inference that the properties of kingsfoil are only at their peak when used by the legitimate king himself, and by no others. Such plot contrivances irritate me to the extreme. Why is that the case? For what purpose? This certainly was never before mentioned when kingsfoil was used in Book I (again by Aragorn, however, I will note).

The lovey-dovey vibe the chapter tries to pull off also rings somewhat false to me. Aragorn goes from one patient to the next, and they each awake with cliched sayings and sticky sweet praises. Equally irritating is Aragorn's exchange with Merry poking fun of the master of herb-lore and his love of languages. This seems like the Professor is trying to cheekily make fun of his own proclivities, but it doesn't fit with how Aragorn has been portrayed throughout the book and doesn't fit the tone of the chapter, either. I just... am baffled by the chapter in general It's just a slog. It's just bad.

I will note that Gandalf's explanation about what truly ails Eowyn, although a further extrapolation of what she already communicated to Aragorn in "Grey Company," contains excellent turns of phrase; so much so that Peter Jackson excised it from "Return of the King" (in fact, he excised this entire chapter and plot-line) and gave the line to Wormtongue to speak directly to Eowyn in "Two Towers." It's unfortunate that is chapter is such an great example of how beautifully Tolkien could write, and how poorly (at times) he could plot.

Eric's Thoughts (3/30/17)

I thought it strange that Gandalf was so powerless in this chapter. Why would Gandalf drop everything (considering the stakes) to help transport Merry into the Houses of Healing? Why could Gandalf do nothing to help the wounded? Certainly Gandalf's skill in healing would surpass Aragon's?

Those problems aside, I actually thought this chapter was one of the better ones in Return of the King. Wait! Allow me to explain! One of the big critiques I've had of this series as a whole is that it never really focused on character. LOTR almost feels like a story about the land itself, with these people running about on it to fill great distances.

What I liked about this chapter is that it didn't involve the traversing of geography. The scene itself takes place in a house where people practice "leechcraft." (How's that for an anachronistic word?) There are multiple characters enclosed in a limited space. This leads to some fun moments, with Gandalf yelling at the verbose poet-healer that won't stop talking in verse. Finally, someone is called out on the strangeness of all of these random poems in the text. Meta.

Also in this chapter is one of the book's best lines: Merry waking up and saying, "I am hungry. What is the time?" And Aragon calling out Merry for what he is (hint: it's another word for a donkey).

The point of this chapter is to create yin with Tolkien's yang. The last chapter Eomer and Eowyn fought with the Witch King itself. This chapter creates balance by turning to the consequences of that battle. Structurally I think the chapter makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, as my co-readers point out, Gandalf's presence is not appropriate. His helplessness makes him seems like a weak character. Is this the same Gandalf that battled the Balrog? Gandalf the White disappoints.

Of course, Aragon healing everyone establishes Aragon as a Christ-like character. He washes the feet of the disciples here, so to speak, before he becomes king of the world. Tolkien does a masterful job of using scent as a trick of the trade: the reader can certainly smell the kingsfoil when Aragon crushes it. It establishes Aragon as a force in his own right -- if Gandalf can't even do it, who can? Aragon can!

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