The Courage of Tolkien's Hobbits





		It was this picture of the ordinary guy taking his stand against the evils of his day that awoke my imagination. How is it that I too can live my life with courage and dignity? How can I serve something larger than my desire for comfort or status? The evil that I struggle with is not so much the evil of a Sauron who seeks to take over the world and enslave all to himself. It is more the evil of a Saruman, a white wizard gone bad, who counsels complacency and despair. My quest is to live as consciously and compassionately as possible, seeking to help others in their quest as I am able. The counsels of Saruman tell me to think only of myself, to rest, to seek comfort and not to do anything hard. It is the counsel to despair. But the hobbits show me another way. They show me that even the ordinary guy can stand up against despair. The hobbits do not return from their battle unchanged. Frodo and Sam are much wiser, Merry and Pippin have grown taller. All are more experienced. But Frodo has also been wounded in a way that no magic can heal. They return to a homeland in crisis. Once again they seek to put things right. Sam tends to his gardening and works at reforesting the Shire. Merry and Pippin use their newfound battle skills to help rid the Shire of the ruffians. All three find a renewed place in their old world. Frodo, however, finds that he has to leave the homeland. He has been too damaged by the quest. I think it is remarkably realistic that Tolkien has a major figure in the book wounded by the quest. Here is no modern action hero who can go through battle after battle with no scrapes and no rest. Here is a realistic portrayal of what happen when people venture out on the quest for something more meaningful than ordinary consciousness. Some may say that LOTR is nothing more than a fantasy book and that its portrayal of ordinary hobbits effecting change in the wider world is just another fantasy. But I prefer this fantasy to the counsels of despair. I prefer the model of courageous people who persevere even when they do not see hope to people who give up when things get difficult. Tolkien inspires me to go out on my adventure and trust that the magic that aided the hobbits will aid me as well. Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings (Boxed Set). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Discuss what Tolkien's Lord of the Rings means to you on our messageboard or respond directly to the author here (responses may be posted). Previous 1 [2] Back to Literature