| dc.description.abstract | In his personal writings, as well as in much of his fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien often expressed the paradoxical belief that the 'wheels of the world' are often turned, not by the great, the powerful, or the mighty, but rather, by those who appear in the eyes of the world as being weak, and not worth the mentioning nor the notice of the society at large. The following analysis discusses Tolkien's exposition of this motif of 'the unknown and the weak' in his trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, its relation with some of his other works, and some of its parallels with the Bible.
Tolkien presents the dilemma of the individual who encounters "impossible odds," but who nevertherless must strive to overcome these out of a sense of responsibility. The burden of the weak is to take upon himself this responsibility or quest--however foolish and absurd it might seem to the eyes of reason--because there is no one else who may attempt it; it has been appointed to him by a supreme being. This means that in order to walk to the end of his life's road, the individual must be willing to sacrifice and surrender all--to deny himself--even if this means suffering, great mortication, or even death; even then, because of the individual's inherent weakness before the forces he is encountering, all rationale points out in the direction of failure and certain death: there is no hope. Yet, at the very moment of greatest despair and hopelessness, "somehow," a glimmer of hope returns to the weak and unknown when out of the depths of the heart comes a call-a clamor--to the infinite, to the divine, to the supreme being.
The analysis concludes by making the parallel with the life of Jesus of Nazareth and his quest to overcome the impossible: to die and resurrect so that humanity may be redeemed. Love, it is concluded, is the ultimate source of strength for the weak: love for one's fellow being and love for God. It is only through the strength of love that an individual may master the will to struggle against impossible odds. | en |
