Allegations of racism have been leveled against J.R.R. Tolkien’s works for a long time but have gained traction and attention since the highly successful film series by Peter Jackson.
The critics are numerous, and their works and opinions have been widely posted. Tolkien fans and the Tolkien Society have worked hard to dispel myths and misconceptions.
I am not an expert on Tolkien, nor am I am a member of the Tolkien Society. However, I am quite familiar with his work and hopefully, my post will help to clarify the debate on the nature of his works.
 |
| JRR Tolkien as a soldier in 1916 - Wikimedia Commons |
The views of the outraged can be pretty well summed up by Suzzi Tordebring in “Stereotypes of Race and Gender in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings from an Intercultural Perspective”. In the article, she asserts that Tolkien has written in such a way to attribute moral superiority to blood and heredity, and furthermore, that orcs are a caricature of tribal African societies. The stories themselves are supposedly built on the imperialist frame of thought typical of a man in Tolkien’s era. These are harsh criticisms indeed from a modern perspective and if they are false, then they should be decisively corrected.
To understand whether or not Tolkien’s work was racist, we need to take a look at his work in the full context of the man himself and the world that he had immersed himself in. It is not enough to take snatches of his work and view them through a narrow contemporary lens.
Tolkien was a student of multiple mythologies. His works were drawn mainly from early medieval sources of mythology and later works such as the 19th century Finnish Kalevala. It is not surprising that there is little Non-European ethnic diversity here given the fact that Tolkien’s epic is built on the shoulders of earlier sagas in Germanic mythology.
There are few references to foreigners who are roughly similar to non-western people from lands on earth. These peoples, such as the Easterlings with their ‘Mumakil’, were enemies of Middle Earth but were also sympathetic enemies who were victims rather than perpetrators. These sympathies can be seen in quotes from Tolkien’s characters, such as that of Sam Gamgee after the death of an Easterling on his travels to Mordor.
‘He wondered what the man’s name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace’. [Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers]
It is emphasized here, yet again, that Sauron is the great enemy, deceiver, and threat. The fact that the Easterlings were swayed by the power of the ring should not be a point against their intrinsic character. The noblest human civilization, (Numenor, that is) was also deceived by Sauron, culminating in its destruction. Boromir, a man of Gondor and descendant of Numenor and member of the Fellowship of the Ring, fell to its power.
Just as the enemies of Middle Earth are more nuanced and less evil than commonly thought to be, the protagonists themselves are certainly not perfect.
Our heroes, in the form of men and even elves, were guilty of racism and both paid the price for being so. In Tolkien’s Silmarillion the elves hunted the petty dwarves, until they realised that they were not the animals they took them for and refrained from doing so thereafter. They had slain, for sport, the sentient creatures of the world and earned the hatred of the petty dwarves for doing so.
The men of Rohan had driven out the Dunlendings (previous inhabitants of what became Rohan) and thus earned their enmity in the war of the ring. Furthermore, other men such as the Edain, destroyed their forests with much of the same effect. Yet again, the human enemies in the book (and prominent in the film) are sympathetic in light of the circumstances surrounding their enmity. In all cases, Tolkien made it clear that racism among the sentient creatures of the world was a very bad thing. Although not appearing in the end of the film series, the Druedain, a small race of woodmen were granted exclusive rights to the forest by King Aragorn, who forbade all others to enter without their permission. This stands in stark contrast to the Rohirrim, who persecuted diminutive races. [Return of the King]
But what of the orcs? Are they not a symbol of African barbarity? Modern academic Steven Shapiro sums up the view: “Put simply, Tolkien’s good guys are white, and the bad guys are black, slant-eyed, unattractive, inarticulate and a psychologically undeveloped horde” (Shapiro, as quoted in Bhatia, 2003).
He is referencing Tolkien’s description of the orcs. Tolkien described them thus:
“They are squat, broad, flat nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol types”. [Letter 210]
In fact, the orcs are not really analogous to any human race. They are analogous, according to Tolkien’s work, to folkloric Goblins or demons. The books use the words ‘goblin’ and ‘orc’ interchangeably. If there is any (partial) contemporary inspiration for Tolkien’s orcs, it would likely lie in the 19th-century writer George MacDonald who wrote The Princess and the Goblin. MacDonald’s goblins, who live in a mine, are deformed twisted creatures; perhaps a reference to the injuries and appearance of miners working in the same conditions.
 |
| Toscana ho visto nina volare Wikimedia commons |
The Early Modern period in European history would herald the chauvinism of European nations towards Africans, Indians, and others. The dreadful race relations that exist today are largely believed to be a result of the Atlantic slave trade and colonialism during these times.
Their skin colour, likewise, derives from folkloric and early Catholic images of demons. Perhaps it is referencing the torture and corruption of elves by the Satanic Morgoth in the pits of Utumno. A proponent of Shapiro’s viewpoint may try to draw an equivalence between the folkloric and early Catholic imagery and modern racist views of black people. This would be incorrect, given that such images of devils and goblins were well established long before Northern Europe would have had any significant contact with Africa (or indeed any other continent).
Their skin colour, likewise, derives from folkloric and early Catholic images of demons. Perhaps it is referencing the torture and corruption of elves by the Satanic Morgoth in the pits of Utumno. A proponent of Shapiro’s viewpoint may try to draw an equivalence between the folkloric and early Catholic imagery and modern racist views of black people. This would be incorrect, given that such images of devils and goblins were well established long before Northern Europe would have had any significant contact with Africa (or indeed any other continent).
Tolkien’s writings of different nations and races in Middle Earth, including the orcs, were shaped by his two driving passions in life: religion and his love of European mythology. Tolkien would not have been untouched by the imperialistic attitudes of his time but given that he did not have positive things to say about such things, we may assume that it formed the smallest part of his inspiration, if it were present at all).
Tolkien had very little to say of Imperialist and fascist chauvinism, but when he did, it was usually caustic.
While nothing on the modern concepts of race is addressed in his books, he does mention a hatred of Apartheid in a valedictory address in Oxford in 1959.
In a letter [letter 29] to Nazi German editors, Tolkien described the Nazi race doctrine as ‘pernicious’ and ‘unscientific’ in a time when racism was still seen in terms of an anthropological perspective as being scientific. Furthermore, he stated that he had Jewish friends and that if required to give a statement of ancestry which excluded Jews, a German translation could ‘go hang’. In an unrelated letter [Letter 153] to Catholic theologian Peter Hastings, he indirectly stated his views on race; that elves and men were one race since they could produce fertile offspring together. This statement would be in line with current scientific thought on race and is wholly different to the kind of racism of which Tolkien is accused.
In another letter he states his views on contemporary European fascism in which he speaks viciously:
“.. I have in this war a burning private grudge-which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.”
JRR Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien – Letter 45
An interesting perspective on Tolkien’s orcs morality comes from Zach Watkins in his piece on the morality of orcs. He hypothesized that orcs can be moral, depending on one’s method of judgment.
From the moral relativistic view, the orcs were products of their culture and therefore acted within the mores and norms of that culture. According to orcish society, their conduct was acceptable.
However, according to the moral absolutist standard, where there is an objective right and wrong, then it can be reasonably inferred that the orcs were evil.
How evil though? Did they have any redeeming qualities? The author cites a quote by Gimli in Lord of the Rings where he states: “Orcs will often pursue foes for many leagues if they have a fallen captain to avenge.” [The Fellowship of the Ring]. This suggests a few moral qualities, though primitively expressed. Loyalty, love, honour, and duty come to mind.
A Tolkien letter that the author cites details Tolkien’s views regarding the orcs, where he says that the orcs are essentially rational creatures [Letter 153]. This strongly implies that they make choices, like other rational beings. If they make choices, then they can choose to do good. While this does not make an orc any less evil than his culture has left him, he is not entirely irredeemable.
The orcs, who are the main focus of the criticism, are certainly the results of influences external to Tolkien’s excellent imagination. They stem from medieval Catholic and folkloric imagery (and possibly, though not entirely probable, even coal mining).
 |
Last Judgment Scrovegni Chapel Giotto-1306 Wikimedia commons
|
The truth about all the other events, as one can see, is always more nuanced when analysing a complex subject as presented by JRR Tolkien.
Tolkien’s work has become the target for those who seek social justice. Social justice is important, but if some of its proponents are to be respected, they must refrain from false equivalence. This means not ascribing to works, or people for that matter, characteristics that are not theirs.
As for white supremacists and (actual) Nordicists, they must be reconciled with the fact that Tolkien would have hated them and would still hate them if he were alive today. He made it clear that fascism perverted everything good about Northern mythology and fantasy. Nothing would make him angrier than his works being used to advance their agenda.
 |
| Tolkien would never march with these people - Charlottesville_'Unite_the_Right'_Rally_Anthony Crider_wiki |
Comments
Post a Comment