"The Uruk-Hai" - Eric's Thoughts

Ben and Jacob already covered my thoughts on this chapter pretty well. I have to say we seem to be on the same page.

I personally found fascinating the orc-salve that is used to heal Merry and Pippin, and the liquor they feed them that burns them inside but gives them vigor. That part came alive for me--for a moment I was Pippin, and imagined what it would be like to be imbued with harsh healing methods.

Certainly, it is a well-tried trope that evil characters are always trying to screw one another behind the scenes, and that they are only loyale insofar they can increase their own power, and your superior is useful, etc. I laughed at the capitalism example by Ben

In a way, you almost feel more sorry for the orcs than Pippin. Especially if you're at the top. Not only do you have cruel masters above you that will kill you and make an example out of you if they so much as think you've stepped out of line, but you also have alpha-wolf contests with your inferiors and have to constantly kill to stay alive. Indeed, the orcs are very much like a pack of dogs, where the alpha dog constantly is challenged, and one sign of weakness or an unlucky wound, and you'll be tomorrow's dinner. They certainly eat like dogs--foul food that Pippin and Merry won't touch. It's not good to be an orc -- you certainly won't be appreciated for who you are.

I think I can add a little backstory that might be helpful, here. We find out through blizzard entertainment that the orcs are a noble species, and that they were merely corrupted by a bunch of demons. Some literary scholar really ought to look into it, and they could figure out where the orcs really came from, and why it's a such a difficult life being an orc, and why the orcs were a noble species and got so corrupted. PhD dissertation, anyone?