Chapter 2: The Passing of the Grey Company
One of the hoariest old saws of the creative writing workshop is "show, don't tell." That this maxim only rose to prominence in the post-WWII period (and that largely thanks to the nefarious influence of Iowa) is once again demonstrated by the fact that Return of the King often ignores the maxim entirely. For example, in this chapter, we are told all about how Aragorn had his long-awaited Skype session with Sauron in the Orb of Orthanc, and apparently (with great effort) wrested away log-in privileges from the Dark Lord, so to speak. Likewise, the legendary Broken Blade has been reforged. Now, these are both highly significant events that signal the advent of Strider's full transformation into Aragorn the King--yet we only learn of both events from a dinner conversation, which is frankly rather anti-climactic. I would kind of liked to have witnessed the scene wherein Aragorn wrestles with Sauron in a battle of wills through the Palantir (my goodness, we saw Pippin do it, so why not show far-more-important Strider?!); I would also have liked to actually see the reforging of the Sword--or at least its presentation to Aragorn--with just a touch more fanfare. It's chapters like these that perhaps encouraged the rise of "show, don't tell" in the first place.
But then elsewhere in this chapter, Tolkien runs into the opposite problem, wherein he does show, but doesn't really tell at all: case in point, the arrival of the Rangers. I had plumb forgotten that Strider was a member of that mysterious order, so little had they come up since Strider's first introduction! In fact, the order remains a mystery: what is their organizational structure? Their history? How do they recruit? What, exactly, are their missions, and how do they choose them? The Rangers arrive cloaked, and remain thusly opaque (if memory serves) for the rest of the novel. It's just kinda odd that a series with such a massively mapped-out mythology should both introduce and re-introduce the Rangers in such a tossed off manner, presuming a readerly familiarity with the group that he has not set up, which just feels so uncharacteristic of the Professor (even one-off Shelob gets a full history, so why not the Rangers!)
Likewise uncharacteristic: Tolkein's rather left-field introduction of the Oathbreakers, haunting the Paths of the Dead. There had simply been no foreshadowing, no allusion, no prior reference or set-up for them this whole series long. This has not been the case for just about every other place the Fellowship has visited throughout LoTR. I am supposed to feel the intense fear of the company as they cross the threshold (and having Gimli serve as our POV helps a little), yet there has not been even a tenth of the world building as there was for, say, the Mines of Moriah--or Mordor itself. Hence, this meeting with the dead simply does not pack the same punch. It feels like Tolkien started to rush through things as he sensed himself finally getting towards the end.
Also: how the heck am I supposed to treat the dead in this universe?? Like I said, Tolkien has otherwise done such an admirable job of working out his mythology here, but it occurs to me that he has included precious little discussion throughout this series of what the Middle-Earth Afterlife looks like, about the nature of its Spirits, Gods, Devils, Heavens, Hells, Purgatories, and the like. What are the folk-beliefs, the orthodoxies, the legends and doctrines of the dead in Middle-Earth? Do any of these people go to Church? Do they participate in any rites, rituals, or sacraments? There have been a few scattered prayers of distress here and there, but no clear working out of any sort of religious system. Given Tolkien's own open Christianity, this utter neglect of the theological is especially baffling.
I nit-pick these underdeveloped parts because this self-same chapter still reminds us that Tolkien does know how to properly set things up when he feels like it! For here is where Eowyn first offers her blade in the service of Aragorn--which he of course refuses, but this only sets up a pay-off for later down the line when she joins the final battle. As Ben has repeatedly noted, Tolkien could have really used a strong editor.
Eric's Thoughts (9/28/16)
The chapter transitions from Gandalf/Pippin to Merry/Theoden/Strider/Legolas/Gimli/Eowyn. Merry, like Pippin, offers his sword to Theoden. (That's called literary symmetry.) Meanwhile, these guys called Rangers randomly show up. Now, Aragon (Strider) keeps acting a little fishy and goes off with the Rangers, and the Rangers have a fishy looking furled staff with a banner, but hey, that's ok.
Theoden and Merry go off, and at this point I'm drifting, but suddenly, lo! Strider finally gives some answers about why he's been so skulky -- he looked into the palantir!! My eyelids immediately stop drooping and I read on, eager to learn about the confrontation between Strider and Sauron. This part's a little bit interesting, but soon after it turns out Theoden left Eowyn behind, and she begs Aragon to take her with him to face the lands of the dead. Aragon refuses. Then, Aragon/Gimli/Legolas enter the lands of the dead to fulfill some promise that is described for the very first time that the story progresses. Ok. Tolkien is kind of winging it right now, but that's ok.
The lands of the dead prove less than scary. Aragon and Co. see some shadows, and blow a horn, and announce that everyone needs to come along. The dead seem to be ok with that, and follow they do.
Analysis:
Yeah, this chapter was kind of a snooze. Didn't help that I was tired when I read it, but I literally was drifting until Aragon reveals he had just had a confrontation with Sauron. But that short bit of interesting writing was short lived.
Again, like the last chapter, this chapter suffers from a lack of external conflict and a basic plot goal. At least the banner was unfurled in the lands of the dead. Phew! Excellent foreshadowing on Tolkien's part! -- note that the banner was foreshadowed earlier by the Ranger carrying it.
Ben's Thoughts (11/18/16)
I honestly think that part of me was delaying writing about this chapter because it is just plain bad.
I can envision Tolkien faced with a plot-based conundrum at this point in "Return of the King." He needs to bring his various characters together at the two-thirds point of Book V at Minas Tirith, with the pivotal battle scene of "Pellenor Fields." Tolkien was a writer who jumped around, and without consulting the copious published material detailing the intricacies of the writing process of Lord of the Rings, I feel confident in my guess that "Pellenor Fields" was written long before these transitional chapters. The dilemma was, how to get the characters to that point?
Previous books, while not strictly episodic, nevertheless consisted of related episodes attached to a wider narrative. In the journey of the Fellowship in Book II, we had Rivendell - Moria - Lorien - River - Breaking. Separate setpieces, each transitioning smoothly into the other. In Book III, we had the similar structure of Chase - Fangorn - Rohirrim - Helm's Deep - Isengard. There was padding in there, but still a clear narrative flow. Now in Book V, Tolkien has "Pellenor Fields" and "The Black Gate Opens," the finale leading into Book VI... and the big question of what to do in between.
The result is a series of stilted episodes, each lacking the passion, cinematic quality, and cohesion of that of previous books. The best bits are reserved for Minas Tirith, where Tolkien at least has fully realized characters in Denethor and Faramir (not to mention Gandalf) to fall back on. Sadly, the Dunedain, Elladan and Elorhir, the Dead, and yes, even Theoden in these sections are not fully realized characters. They are mere sketches.
So Tolkien doesn't want Aragorn to just ride along with Theoden to Minas Tirith, he needs him to arrive in suitably heroic fashion, as befitting a returning king, and if he has an adventure to pad out a chapter or two in the process, so much the better. So he sends Aragorn through the Paths of the Dead; but to get to the Paths, he has to know that there's a danger growing in the sound (the corsairs of Umbar); but to know that, he has to use the Palantir; but to use the Palantir, he has to wrest it away from Sauron; and wow, this is getting really complicated, let's not show the struggle with Sauron on-screen, let's have Gimli be the POV character (even though he was just fine with Aragorn being the POV in "Two Towers" -- Tolkien's reluctance to have Aragorn be the POV from this point on is quite frustrating and something I will probably address in later chapters), and let's have the journey through the Paths to be kinda creepy but with nothing much really happening and Aragorn doesn't have to do any convincing of the Dead, they're all just ready to follow him to Pelargir.
Suffice it to say, this kind of plotting does not a masterful chapter make. Similar plotting in later chapters does not a masterful Book V make.
Tolkien does get one thing right, however: Aragorn's conversation with Eowyn. Say what you will about Tolkien's male-centric tale: when Eowyn takes center stage, as she does here, I feel like he genuinely portrays a feminist perspective. Here is Eowyn, as powerful as she can get in a patriarchy like the Rohirrim (given charge over the affairs of the kingdom while the king rides off to war). And yet, she remains constrained, powerless, unable to effectuate real change in her life: "Shall I always be left behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house while they win renown, and find food and beds when they return?" she asks. Then, when Aragorn tries to pass her off with a platitude about the honor of service on the homefront, she shoots back: "All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house."
Of course, Tolkien manages to undercut it with having Eowyn fall madly in love with Aragorn on the basis of their two interactions, but the fact remains that it's a ballsy move to have one of your main male protagonists needled like this by a female character. From a feminist perspective, if you can weed through the problematic parts of the Aragorn-Eowyn interaction, there's some striking words there. And it is important to note that Eowyn proves Aragorn wrong: her part is not in the home, as she proves later at the Pellenor.
I think we've all expressed our frustration about these chapters. Unfortunately they keep going for a while. On to the next.
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