"The Houses of Healing" - Eric's Thoughts

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!