THE LIDLESS EYE AND THE LONG BURDEN: THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL IN TOLKIEN'S 'THE LORD OF THE RINGS'.

摘要

This study examines the The Lord of the Rings in accordance with Tolkien's own critical ideas as expressed chiefly in "On Fairy-Stories," "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," and the Letters. Chapter 1 discusses the ideas themselves, and on their basis the next three chapters present a reading of the trilogy in light of its "informing purport" and its eucatastrophe.; The trilogy is informed by an interest in the conflict between good and evil. Chapter 2 deals with the good side in the trilogy, which is guided by a Vision of Harmony most fully revealed in the nature of Valinor and of Lorien (representations on two levels of the Earthly Paradise). The ultimate form of this Harmony (paralleling the Redeemed World, or New Jerusalem) is as yet unrevealed, though foreshadowed in the actions of the sacrificial characters, Gandalf and Frodo. Chapter 3 deals with the evil side and the distinct characteristics of its magic and powers as opposed to those of the good side. Though in the Tolkien's universe, evil may also have an unrevealed ultimate form, in the trilogy the evil side is held together by Sauron's Vision of Domination, focused in his Lidless Eye, for which the Ring is a conduit. Chapter 4 contains a detailed analysis of the central conflict involving the Eye and the Ring.; The Eye attacks the good side by attempting to replace the Vision of Harmony with the Vision of Domination, both outwardly (by controlling what actually is, and thus, what is seen) and inwardly, (through telepathic attacks on the imagination). The quest of the good side is to preserve and extend the Vision of Harmony, by denying the Vision of Domination inwardly and destroying its outward means of attack. Because the Eye, especially in conjunction with the Ring, can alter perception, and because the protagonist, Frodo, actually succumbs temporarily to the Vision of Domination, the trilogy explores the limits and meaning of free will. The eucatastrophe affirms that there is a beneficent Providence at work which knows the difference between free choice and apparent choice and which brings good out of both good and evil actions.