Posted on 01/07/2005 12:20:53 PM PST by Caleb1411
J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings triology is about the epic struggle of "the free folk of the West" to ward off and defeat the temptations and the enemies that would destroy them. As such, the movie version has had a powerful cultural resonance for the free folk undergoing the war on terrorism. Now all three movies are available in extended DVD versions, forming a single 12-hour saga that sheds light on one of the strangest phenomena of our current war: the alliance between our left-wing intellectual establishment and radical Islam.
In Tolkien's epic, all of Middle Earth is under attack. Sauron, the demonic Dark Lord whom the free folk assumed had been defeated long ago, is back in force, determined to wipe out everything good in Middle Earth and make it like his own hellish realm of Mordor.
But Sauron has an ally from within Middle Earth, who represents that civilization's highest accomplishments. Saruman the White is the head of Gandalf's order. He is an intellectual, a scientist, a technologist. Saruman decides to support Sauron. Whereas Sauron uses wraiths, dragons, monsters, and his own occult powers, Saruman uses the power of scientific rationalism. He genetically engineers a breed of super-Orcs. He invents gunpowder to blow up fortress walls. He cuts down the forest as fuel for his factories, turning his own once-beautiful realm into a Mordor-like wasteland.
The "Two Towers" of the trilogy's second title refer to the Dark Tower of Sauron and the White Tower of Saruman, the two different but allied threats against which the free folk must contend.
Tolkien was not writing political allegory, but similar alliances have characterized the last two centuries. When Hitler assaulted Western civilization, he had enthusiastic allies in Western intellectuals, such as the existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger, the modernist poet Ezra Pound, the deconstructionist literary critic Paul de Man, and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. With the next threat of Communism, Western intellectuals and artists were even more open in siding with the Soviets working to bury us.
Today, much of the Western intellectual establishment supports the Islamic terrorists. This goes beyond simple opposition to the war in Iraq. (Tolkien also depicts the response of hopeless pacifism, as in King Theoden—still under the influence of Saruman's agent Griga Wormtongue —when he laments, "Hasn't there been enough killing?" and refuses to attack the enemies at his door.) The hardcore leftists want the Iraqi insurgents to win. Filmmaker Michael Moore calls them "minute men" and "freedom fighters." Left-wing websites celebrate the killing of American soldiers and claim solidarity with Muslim revolutionaries. Some of the most virulent anti-Israeli rhetoric can be found in American and European universities.
Western leftists are feminist, pro-gay, and morally permissive. And yet, they are willing to make common cause with radical Islamists who brutally repress women, punish homosexuals by execution, and impose the harshest of legalistic codes. Just as Sauron would eat Saruman for dinner, Western intellectuals would not last one day under an Islamist republic. And yet, the hatred Western intellectuals have for the civilization that brought them into existence is so great that they will embrace its every enemy. How can this be?
University professors and students have long been deconstructing the great achievements of Western civilization, chanting in anti–liberal arts demonstrations, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western civ has got to go." The vogue of multiculturalism has meant criticizing Western culture in favor of non-Western cultures. Many Islamist terrorists are graduates of these universities, which schooled them well in the evils of the West.
One clue might be found in the terrorist taunt that "we love death more than you love life."
Those who are willing to kill others and themselves to make an abstract political statement share a mindset with those who see nothing wrong with aborting children, euthanizing sick people, and using human embryos for medical experiments.
The Saurons and Islamists hold to a religious nihilism, full of a spiritual energy that is wholly negative. The Sarumans and left-wing intellectuals hold to a secular nihilism that is equally negative. The free folk must confront the two towers, both the Minaret and the Ivory Tower. —•
My only quible with this is that it really isn't that clear which two towers are being refered to in the title. In the book there are actually 5 towers (3 held by the bad guys, 2 by the good guys) and you can make a pretty compelling argument for any combination. I've always leaned towards Orthanc and Mordor myself but it's not that cut and dry, my second favorite interpretation are the tower at Helms Deep and Minas Tirith, the sites of the two big refusal to yield battles (one fought in this book, the other prepared for in this book and fought in the next). Then there's also the Witch King's tower (moved to the third movie) which the ring passes close by which couples nicely with either Orthanc (both towers were once owned by the good guys and built for defense) or Mordor, plus a few other combos of the five.
But for purposes of this essay Suaron's and Sauroman's homes work best, and from that assumption it's otherwise spot on.
Good article, but I must point out a nit: "Griga Wormtongue" should be "Grima Wormtongue".
Evil is evil. Nothing changes it's mo.It is the same yesterday today and tomorrow, if you understand his thought process in this way. It doesn't matter what name you use, Hitler,OBL,etcetc, they all are spawn from the same burning hole of Satan.
Hmmm...good point. Wormtongue. He's a perfect Wormtongue
So true, because neither group believes that human life has an intrinsic worth.
The Huorns from the Plains. ;o)
Ah, you've read that compilation of super-dense pre-LOTR stories in "The Book of Lost Tales"? The jewels found in there were almost worth the mental pain trying to understand it (I'm only a sub-genius).
Despite Tolkien's objections I can't help but see how his subconscious folded events from his time into his conscious effort to weave his lands' folklore into a new mythos. By that light I think this article's author was quite in the right by applying the mythos to modern political reality. The seemingly endless battle between good and evil remains a constant while only the characters change. Stay good!
The Two Towers in the title of the book do refer to Orthanc, where Saruman resides at Isengard, and to Barad-dur in Mordor where Sauron is, so your leaning is correct. The title refers to the the alliance between Saruman and Sauron.
"But be that as it may, the similarity between Michael Moore and a Balrog is unmistakable!"
I would never thought it possible, but this is one instance where a Balrog is owed an apology.
Actually I haven't read the Lost Tales, though I bought the book for our daughter a couple of years ago. I just know that Tolkien's theme of good vs evil is universal. It fit the times in which he wrote it and it fits now because there is always evil moving in the world, and God willing, there will always be good people fighting against it.
Point taken. Sorry for the sarcasm!
I spend way too much time on the computer...
God bless...
Just call me Quickbeam.
or you could be the guy who writes articles for TheOneRing.net.
That site should reprint this article.
No, that's incorrect. Tolkien intended the "Two Towers" referred to in the title of the book to be Orthanc and the Tower of Cirith Ungol, which "dominate the action" of Book III and Book IV. Tolkien also mused that the "Two Towers" might be seen to be Minas Tirith and Barad-Dur, though this was not his intention.
Peter Jackson in the film clearly intended the "Two Towers" to be those two you have mentioned.
"The first Ent to call for war against Suraman,
or you could be the guy who writes articles for TheOneRing.net. "
Close on the first. I like that guy because he is so "hasty." A trait my wife says I have (though I always wait for her to finish speaking before answering).
Bump for later
Keep in mind that the main talent of the intellectual is his ability to be persuasive when he wants to. It's much easier to flatter one wealthy and powerful person into becoming your patron, than it is to keep several million people entertained. It is also an ego boost. By his closeness to the powerful person, the intellectual can delude himself into thinking that he is powerful too. (Much as Saruman thought he could deal with Sauron as a close-to-equal, or Wormtongue thinking his service to Saruman would have resulted in Wormtongue's being awarded with his desires once victory was achieved)
The intellectual is useful to the autocrat, who uses him to manipulate the emotions of the population. The intellectual's sense of self-importance results in him never realizing that he is just a tool to the autocrat, to be used and dispensed with.
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