In Smith, I really enjoyed the description of the morality of the villagers. "A fair number of folk lived in it, good, bad, and mixed, as is usual" (Tolkien, 9). I just like the simple, yet enlightening description. I like the folksy language that Tolkien uses throughout the two stories.
"Some found one, and some found two, and several found none; for that is the way luck goes, whether there is a doll with a wand on the cake or not" (Tolkien, 20). I like this description of luck. It struck me to think about the arbitrary nature of pure chance, written out in simplistic terms.
"But later in long journeys he had seen things of both beauty and terror that he could not clearly remember nor report to his friends, though he knew that they dwelt deep in his heart. But some things he did not forget, and they remained in his mind as wonders and mysteries that he often recalled" (Tolkien, 26). This is a good description of mysticism that I would like to emulate somewhere in my stories.
The interaction between Alf and Nokes on pages 55-56 is a great description of meeting someone of great religious import (Alf) and then rearranging the circumstances in one's own mind so as to be naturally skeptical (Nokes). In some people there is no chance of recognizing truth no matter how plainly it appears to them. Faith is something internal and those devoid of its capacity will reinvent their own history to intentionally misunderstand it. Tolkien's approach devastatingly shows this in the short little passage.
While most of my notes have been on Smith of Wootton Major, I enjoyed reading Farmer Giles of Ham more than the the former. I like the idea of forcing a dragon to do things against its will and the idea of a farmer and commoner overcoming the powerful king. I also like the idea of the Little Kingdom - I think it speaks volumes of what today's "non-elite" can do. Also, it speaks volumes of what the elite (the knights in the story) are unwilling or incapable of doing. In today's society of palpable class divisions in America, it is a triumphant story of the lowly being able to rise above the elite in spite of circumstances and wealth difference. Farmer Giles may have been lucky and unwilling to go his destiny, but even in his unwillingness he ended up doing it. With luck, even those who are apprehensive can overcome massive odds and rise above and thus be subversive to a system stacked against one - it is a triumphant story!
This notion of overcoming the unfair system is a stark contrast to the current situations in Baltimore, a place I nominally claim as a birthplace, though I am truly suburban in my own mind. That said, I have a great affinity for Baltimore. But, even in a place that may have the odds stacked against the lower classes, it is my strongest belief that those willing to work within the system that anyone, regardless of social status can overcome the system to rise to the top. The only difference between those who do not overcome a system stacked against them and those that rise above it is there willingness to work. Farmer Giles had no business getting his hands on the Tailbiter. But, the brute fact of the matter is that he did. With it he was able to amass his wealth and power. He got the Tailbiter because swords had fallen out of fashion with the elite and it was given to him as it might fit someone provincial as it was no longer loved in the elite. Today, there are so many chances afforded to everyone, regardless of class. If only those in the lower classes would grasp at what is afforded to them, they too can threaten and tame dragons. And in doing so, they can carve themselves their own little kingdoms. While luck may play a part, as it did for Farmer Giles, no amount of luck would have behooved this mere provincial if he hadn't seized it. So let us seize our luck and if it fails, let us seize it again.
"Some found one, and some found two, and several found none; for that is the way luck goes, whether there is a doll with a wand on the cake or not" (Tolkien, 20). I like this description of luck. It struck me to think about the arbitrary nature of pure chance, written out in simplistic terms.
"But later in long journeys he had seen things of both beauty and terror that he could not clearly remember nor report to his friends, though he knew that they dwelt deep in his heart. But some things he did not forget, and they remained in his mind as wonders and mysteries that he often recalled" (Tolkien, 26). This is a good description of mysticism that I would like to emulate somewhere in my stories.
The interaction between Alf and Nokes on pages 55-56 is a great description of meeting someone of great religious import (Alf) and then rearranging the circumstances in one's own mind so as to be naturally skeptical (Nokes). In some people there is no chance of recognizing truth no matter how plainly it appears to them. Faith is something internal and those devoid of its capacity will reinvent their own history to intentionally misunderstand it. Tolkien's approach devastatingly shows this in the short little passage.
While most of my notes have been on Smith of Wootton Major, I enjoyed reading Farmer Giles of Ham more than the the former. I like the idea of forcing a dragon to do things against its will and the idea of a farmer and commoner overcoming the powerful king. I also like the idea of the Little Kingdom - I think it speaks volumes of what today's "non-elite" can do. Also, it speaks volumes of what the elite (the knights in the story) are unwilling or incapable of doing. In today's society of palpable class divisions in America, it is a triumphant story of the lowly being able to rise above the elite in spite of circumstances and wealth difference. Farmer Giles may have been lucky and unwilling to go his destiny, but even in his unwillingness he ended up doing it. With luck, even those who are apprehensive can overcome massive odds and rise above and thus be subversive to a system stacked against one - it is a triumphant story!
This notion of overcoming the unfair system is a stark contrast to the current situations in Baltimore, a place I nominally claim as a birthplace, though I am truly suburban in my own mind. That said, I have a great affinity for Baltimore. But, even in a place that may have the odds stacked against the lower classes, it is my strongest belief that those willing to work within the system that anyone, regardless of social status can overcome the system to rise to the top. The only difference between those who do not overcome a system stacked against them and those that rise above it is there willingness to work. Farmer Giles had no business getting his hands on the Tailbiter. But, the brute fact of the matter is that he did. With it he was able to amass his wealth and power. He got the Tailbiter because swords had fallen out of fashion with the elite and it was given to him as it might fit someone provincial as it was no longer loved in the elite. Today, there are so many chances afforded to everyone, regardless of class. If only those in the lower classes would grasp at what is afforded to them, they too can threaten and tame dragons. And in doing so, they can carve themselves their own little kingdoms. While luck may play a part, as it did for Farmer Giles, no amount of luck would have behooved this mere provincial if he hadn't seized it. So let us seize our luck and if it fails, let us seize it again.
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