Re-reading the Lord of the Rings, Chapter 32
I don't think that Gandalf is entirely fair to Saruman when he says that Saruman plotted to choke all living things.
His first offer to Théoden is thus no ruse, it is only not a particularly good offer, since Sauron probably has no place for the Rohirrim in his schemes.
Saruman's voice is the only example in the Lord of the Rings of something that appears to be good, but isn't, the only example of deceit. I already complained about the equation evil = ugly that not only dominates the film, but also the thinking of a great many fans of the book, and by letting Christopher Lee speak Saruman, Jackson made sure that no trace of deceit would remain in the film.
Yet, people can be deceived. It is possible. And Tolkien was quite correct in pointing out the direction, whence the worst deceit is to be feared, namely in the guise of benevolence and wisdom, behind promisses of aleviations and demands for indulgences that life does not permit.
In real life these are the perverters of Christianity, who look upon Christian demands only as building blocks for demands of their own, of which they know that they must leech the salt from the earth.
Those come in several forms though.
But again, Saruman isn't that evil, he simply made an unwise decision and has nothing to offer and is too proud to admit it. Still, his voice is a phenomenon in its own right and it must have such a ring, that it leaves its audience with a chill at the thought of what such a voice can do.
Alas, the voices that fill our world, they're all alike, Saruman's voice multiplied tenthousandfold.
But you have not plotted to cover all the world with your trees and choke all other living things.There were Men in Saruman's army and Merry is probably correct that Saruman trusted them more than Orcs, as stated in the previous chapter.
Saruman kept enough wisdom not to trust his Orcs. He had Men to guard his gates: some of his most faithful servants, I suppose. Anyway they were favoured and got good provisions.Saruman appears to have been honest to Gandalf, when he said that he would try to continue his work under Sauron's rule, yet he also made the decision to rule himself, if he could, based on the fact that he considered himself the wisest.
His first offer to Théoden is thus no ruse, it is only not a particularly good offer, since Sauron probably has no place for the Rohirrim in his schemes.
Saruman's voice is the only example in the Lord of the Rings of something that appears to be good, but isn't, the only example of deceit. I already complained about the equation evil = ugly that not only dominates the film, but also the thinking of a great many fans of the book, and by letting Christopher Lee speak Saruman, Jackson made sure that no trace of deceit would remain in the film.
Yet, people can be deceived. It is possible. And Tolkien was quite correct in pointing out the direction, whence the worst deceit is to be feared, namely in the guise of benevolence and wisdom, behind promisses of aleviations and demands for indulgences that life does not permit.
In real life these are the perverters of Christianity, who look upon Christian demands only as building blocks for demands of their own, of which they know that they must leech the salt from the earth.
Those come in several forms though.
But again, Saruman isn't that evil, he simply made an unwise decision and has nothing to offer and is too proud to admit it. Still, his voice is a phenomenon in its own right and it must have such a ring, that it leaves its audience with a chill at the thought of what such a voice can do.
Alas, the voices that fill our world, they're all alike, Saruman's voice multiplied tenthousandfold.
Labels: 14, geschichte, rezension, zeitgeschichte, ἰδέα, φιλοσοφία
Eingetragen Am/um
11:16
