Chapter 1: The Departure of Boromir
Jacob's Thoughts (2/1/15)
So as I at last begin The Two Towers, I have some structural critiques of the opening chapter, viz: Tolkien shows us only the aftermath of an awesome action scene battling orcs, instead of, you know, actually describing it; Boromir's titular death skirts the line between being reverently understated ("But Boromir did not speak again") and merely perfunctory, as though Tolkien wanted to hurry up and get this guy out of the way so we could move on to the next episode; and of course we are treated to yet another long, needless poem.
Yet although this chapter felt strangely brief and underdeveloped, I was surprised to find that, after 3-odd months away from the series, how delighted I was just to be reading Tolkien again at all! I realized how happy I am to be hanging out with Aragorn again; shoot, I'm even excited to see Legolas and Gimli again, who are both still only bare sketches of characters at this point; and if I'm a little bothered at how quickly Boromir is pushed off stage, well, it's because I was more invested in him than I'd realized.
In fact, it's just a joy to be back in Middle-Earth altogether! Yes, even this Middle-Earth that is plagued by wars, orcs, dark-lords, death, despair, and destruction, this world still feels like an old friend, a delightful place worth visiting and exploring. Without me even realizing it, Tolkien throughout Fellowship of the Ring had caused me to care about this world, and therefore caused me to be happy just to be back in it once more. I wonder if this is how first-time readers in 1954 felt, when they had to wait 4 month between Fellowship and Two Towers to continue the story.
I'm afraid I really don't have much else to say at this point, other than it's good to be back, and I look forward to your guys' insights on this chapter as well. I might continue experimenting with shorter posts in the future, as a way to take pressure off myself (and off you guys as well) to write long, in-depth, "profound" analyses and mini-essays about each chapter, and thus avoid giving ourselves undue stress about a blog that's supposed to be a break from grad school and real life, not competition with it--that's supposed to just be a fun way to stay in touch with old friends, not a chore--so that we can just kick back and enjoy our time revisiting this series together.
Ben's Thoughts (2/8/15)
This chapter, the first of "Two Towers," only solidifies my belief that the final moments of the Fellowship really do belong in the first (and eponymous) book.
The first thing I noticed about the chapter was the first word: "Aragorn." This really is Aragorn's time to shine -- he is the central character of Books III and V. I wonder if that first word was Tolkien signaling to his readership or just a coincidence, but I think it was a striking break from "Fellowship." That break from the past, at least, did belong and work well in the new book. It was nice to spend so much time in Aragorn's head, as well -- his competency and indecision are at the forefront here, and we really feel his frustration when he mounts to the top of Amon Hen and all he can see is the eagle (presumably winging Gandalf back to earth after his sojourn in limbo; more on that of course when the wizard makes his triumphant reappearance). It is interesting that Frodo was able to see so much and Aragorn so little; perhaps the Ring had something to do with that. One wonders, however, just how the Kings of Gondor in ages past used Amon Hen and whether it showed them more that the foggy obscurity that Aragorn was shown. Perhaps Aragorn's inability to actually use the "hill of seeing" was a result of Sauron's influence over the land more than anything else.
While Gimli and Legolas, as Jacob noted, are still just one-note sidekicks here, rather than fullly-fleshed characters, Aragorn's arc from the first book is resolved in a fairly satisfying way (although not as satisfying, I maintain, if he had been required to make a proactive, affirmative choice rather than an after-the-fact choice as he does here) with his decision to leave the Ring in the hands of fate rather than his own. Unfortunately, as I indicated above, that arc should have begun and ended in its entirety in the first book. It shouldn't have been carried over here. I know no real reason why "The Departure of Boromir" had to be in "Two Towers" -- indeed, the chapter is so short that one is at a loss as to why it wasn't just merged with "Breaking of the Fellowship." Aragorn's decision could have come right before the final scenes of the first book, with Sam and Frodo heading into the Emyn Muil.
Boromir, too, should have been wrapped up in the first book. His confession to Aragorn that he tried to take the Ring from Frodo seems like the conclusion of his story. Although the confession is lacking the pathos of Jackson's elegiac final Boromir scene (Sean Bean's "Mine is the true ruin" delivers a real emotional punch), his death is quietly understated. I don't know whether Tolkien really managed to sell the Boromir-Aragorn relationship in the way that Jackson managed to in the film, but I thought it was effective.
Just a word on the song -- I know you guys are down on all the poetry, but I see them (most of the time) as a feature, not as a bug. When I was a kid, I loved this song in particular; I think I sang it to myself to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (which pretty much works except for the fourth and eighth lines of each verse). For Tolkien, story and verse were pretty intertwined; I just read about how he wrote a prose version of "The Children of Húrin" and then a long verse version transliterated from an Old English poetry form that was virtually unused in modern English; then he wrote out the remainder of the story. It was the guy's life. The poems are pretty good in and of themselves, even if they do interrupt the flow of the story.
Anyway, not a whole lot to say about this chapter; it's short, a transition piece, and doesn't really belong in this third book. Onward to the plains of Rohan!
Eric's Thoughts (2/9/15)
We criticized over and over how this chapter would have been a more fitting conclusion to the Fellowship. I still stand by that sentiment, but I don't think it's as black and white as we made it.
To the contrary, this chapter is a fantastic action opener. It immediately begins with Aragon running around trying to piece together what has happened. You can feel his anxiety. When Boromir blows his horn in desperation, you can hear the horn blow.
Aragon comes across Boromir, and hears Boromir's confess that he tried to take the ring from Frodo. The scene is touching. Any hate towards Boromir is immediately erased, and you see that he really is a noble man who just happened to be the first to fall to the Ring's corruption. (Perhaps because he is the most desperate.)
What really struck me about why this particular scene works is that Boromir confesses, and repents. You can tell he is sincere. Perhaps Boromir says it to alleviate his guilty conscience, but I think it goes deeper--Boromir says it as a warning: "I tried to take the Ring from Frodo. I am sorry. I have paid."
These words prove critical as to what choice Aragon makes: whether to follow Frodo, or save the Hobbits.
This brings me to the second point I'm interested in discussing: the structure of the chapter. Writing theory states that good storytelling generally follows the following structure:
Goal --> Conflict --> Disaster --> Reaction --> Dilemma--> Decision-->New Goal (repeat cycle)
The scene follows this structure pretty closely. Aragon begins the scene trying to respond to the horn of Boromir, his initial goal. Conflict comes in the form of Aragon's race against time. Disaster happens when Aragon learns that Boromir fell to the Ring and that the Hobbits have been taken. Aragon reacts, feeling tearful. Gimli and Legolas show up, raise new questions, and a dilemma is presented: Frodo or the Hobbits? Aragon studies the tracks, comes to a decision, and formulates a new goal. The chapter ends. In theory, the cycle should repeat itself in the next chapter, and so on.
Little surprise then, when looked at from a bird's eye view, that the really compelling moments of a story come when a character is faced with a dilemma. This right here seems to be a textbook example of dilemma: pursue Frodo, maybe find him, and even if you do know that you may try to take the Ring like Boromir OR try to save Hobbits who are likely dead. As Gimli notes, maybe there is no good option.
Tolkien then walks the reader through the character's reasoning. Aragon reads tracks to decide what happened and to learn more information. In doing so, Tolkien makes Aragon's incredible decision to abandon the Ringbearer and pursue two stupid hobbits believable. In light of Boromir, this decision makes even more sense. This allows what seems like a silly decision to abandon the fate of the world with a Hobbit, to a more rational decision. And we go along with it.
In theory, this is a structurally perfect chapter. While Tolkien may not have been aware what a "structurally perfect" chapter is, what's interesting is when he stumbles upon the formula by accident, it makes for his most compelling writing.
So as I at last begin The Two Towers, I have some structural critiques of the opening chapter, viz: Tolkien shows us only the aftermath of an awesome action scene battling orcs, instead of, you know, actually describing it; Boromir's titular death skirts the line between being reverently understated ("But Boromir did not speak again") and merely perfunctory, as though Tolkien wanted to hurry up and get this guy out of the way so we could move on to the next episode; and of course we are treated to yet another long, needless poem.
Yet although this chapter felt strangely brief and underdeveloped, I was surprised to find that, after 3-odd months away from the series, how delighted I was just to be reading Tolkien again at all! I realized how happy I am to be hanging out with Aragorn again; shoot, I'm even excited to see Legolas and Gimli again, who are both still only bare sketches of characters at this point; and if I'm a little bothered at how quickly Boromir is pushed off stage, well, it's because I was more invested in him than I'd realized.
In fact, it's just a joy to be back in Middle-Earth altogether! Yes, even this Middle-Earth that is plagued by wars, orcs, dark-lords, death, despair, and destruction, this world still feels like an old friend, a delightful place worth visiting and exploring. Without me even realizing it, Tolkien throughout Fellowship of the Ring had caused me to care about this world, and therefore caused me to be happy just to be back in it once more. I wonder if this is how first-time readers in 1954 felt, when they had to wait 4 month between Fellowship and Two Towers to continue the story.
I'm afraid I really don't have much else to say at this point, other than it's good to be back, and I look forward to your guys' insights on this chapter as well. I might continue experimenting with shorter posts in the future, as a way to take pressure off myself (and off you guys as well) to write long, in-depth, "profound" analyses and mini-essays about each chapter, and thus avoid giving ourselves undue stress about a blog that's supposed to be a break from grad school and real life, not competition with it--that's supposed to just be a fun way to stay in touch with old friends, not a chore--so that we can just kick back and enjoy our time revisiting this series together.
Ben's Thoughts (2/8/15)
This chapter, the first of "Two Towers," only solidifies my belief that the final moments of the Fellowship really do belong in the first (and eponymous) book.
The first thing I noticed about the chapter was the first word: "Aragorn." This really is Aragorn's time to shine -- he is the central character of Books III and V. I wonder if that first word was Tolkien signaling to his readership or just a coincidence, but I think it was a striking break from "Fellowship." That break from the past, at least, did belong and work well in the new book. It was nice to spend so much time in Aragorn's head, as well -- his competency and indecision are at the forefront here, and we really feel his frustration when he mounts to the top of Amon Hen and all he can see is the eagle (presumably winging Gandalf back to earth after his sojourn in limbo; more on that of course when the wizard makes his triumphant reappearance). It is interesting that Frodo was able to see so much and Aragorn so little; perhaps the Ring had something to do with that. One wonders, however, just how the Kings of Gondor in ages past used Amon Hen and whether it showed them more that the foggy obscurity that Aragorn was shown. Perhaps Aragorn's inability to actually use the "hill of seeing" was a result of Sauron's influence over the land more than anything else.
While Gimli and Legolas, as Jacob noted, are still just one-note sidekicks here, rather than fullly-fleshed characters, Aragorn's arc from the first book is resolved in a fairly satisfying way (although not as satisfying, I maintain, if he had been required to make a proactive, affirmative choice rather than an after-the-fact choice as he does here) with his decision to leave the Ring in the hands of fate rather than his own. Unfortunately, as I indicated above, that arc should have begun and ended in its entirety in the first book. It shouldn't have been carried over here. I know no real reason why "The Departure of Boromir" had to be in "Two Towers" -- indeed, the chapter is so short that one is at a loss as to why it wasn't just merged with "Breaking of the Fellowship." Aragorn's decision could have come right before the final scenes of the first book, with Sam and Frodo heading into the Emyn Muil.
Boromir, too, should have been wrapped up in the first book. His confession to Aragorn that he tried to take the Ring from Frodo seems like the conclusion of his story. Although the confession is lacking the pathos of Jackson's elegiac final Boromir scene (Sean Bean's "Mine is the true ruin" delivers a real emotional punch), his death is quietly understated. I don't know whether Tolkien really managed to sell the Boromir-Aragorn relationship in the way that Jackson managed to in the film, but I thought it was effective.
Just a word on the song -- I know you guys are down on all the poetry, but I see them (most of the time) as a feature, not as a bug. When I was a kid, I loved this song in particular; I think I sang it to myself to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (which pretty much works except for the fourth and eighth lines of each verse). For Tolkien, story and verse were pretty intertwined; I just read about how he wrote a prose version of "The Children of Húrin" and then a long verse version transliterated from an Old English poetry form that was virtually unused in modern English; then he wrote out the remainder of the story. It was the guy's life. The poems are pretty good in and of themselves, even if they do interrupt the flow of the story.
Anyway, not a whole lot to say about this chapter; it's short, a transition piece, and doesn't really belong in this third book. Onward to the plains of Rohan!
Eric's Thoughts (2/9/15)
We criticized over and over how this chapter would have been a more fitting conclusion to the Fellowship. I still stand by that sentiment, but I don't think it's as black and white as we made it.
To the contrary, this chapter is a fantastic action opener. It immediately begins with Aragon running around trying to piece together what has happened. You can feel his anxiety. When Boromir blows his horn in desperation, you can hear the horn blow.
Aragon comes across Boromir, and hears Boromir's confess that he tried to take the ring from Frodo. The scene is touching. Any hate towards Boromir is immediately erased, and you see that he really is a noble man who just happened to be the first to fall to the Ring's corruption. (Perhaps because he is the most desperate.)
What really struck me about why this particular scene works is that Boromir confesses, and repents. You can tell he is sincere. Perhaps Boromir says it to alleviate his guilty conscience, but I think it goes deeper--Boromir says it as a warning: "I tried to take the Ring from Frodo. I am sorry. I have paid."
These words prove critical as to what choice Aragon makes: whether to follow Frodo, or save the Hobbits.
This brings me to the second point I'm interested in discussing: the structure of the chapter. Writing theory states that good storytelling generally follows the following structure:
Goal --> Conflict --> Disaster --> Reaction --> Dilemma--> Decision-->New Goal (repeat cycle)
The scene follows this structure pretty closely. Aragon begins the scene trying to respond to the horn of Boromir, his initial goal. Conflict comes in the form of Aragon's race against time. Disaster happens when Aragon learns that Boromir fell to the Ring and that the Hobbits have been taken. Aragon reacts, feeling tearful. Gimli and Legolas show up, raise new questions, and a dilemma is presented: Frodo or the Hobbits? Aragon studies the tracks, comes to a decision, and formulates a new goal. The chapter ends. In theory, the cycle should repeat itself in the next chapter, and so on.
Little surprise then, when looked at from a bird's eye view, that the really compelling moments of a story come when a character is faced with a dilemma. This right here seems to be a textbook example of dilemma: pursue Frodo, maybe find him, and even if you do know that you may try to take the Ring like Boromir OR try to save Hobbits who are likely dead. As Gimli notes, maybe there is no good option.
Tolkien then walks the reader through the character's reasoning. Aragon reads tracks to decide what happened and to learn more information. In doing so, Tolkien makes Aragon's incredible decision to abandon the Ringbearer and pursue two stupid hobbits believable. In light of Boromir, this decision makes even more sense. This allows what seems like a silly decision to abandon the fate of the world with a Hobbit, to a more rational decision. And we go along with it.
In theory, this is a structurally perfect chapter. While Tolkien may not have been aware what a "structurally perfect" chapter is, what's interesting is when he stumbles upon the formula by accident, it makes for his most compelling writing.
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