國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
the natural world through the objectification of nonhumans. By denying the similarities between human and nonhuman, the exploitation of the nonhuman is somehow justified. The marginalization of women is a form of oppression that highly resembles the oppression of nature. Similarly, their oppression is based on gender dualism that insists on the innate differences in men and women. Therefore, women in LotR such as É owyn are also marginalized by patriarchal ideology, an ideology that
shares many similarities with anthropocentrism with its dualistic worldview.
5.4 Reconnecting the Eco-Community
Chapter Four analyzes the sentient nature in LotR and their importance as the subversive force to oppose the anthropocentric worldview. While Descartes insists on the binary opposition between human and nonhuman, Tolkien’s works portray the similarities and connections between human and other species. Old Man Willow, Tom Bombadil, and Treebeard are natural creatures that represent different aspects of nature in LotR. These characters demonstrate the senitence of nature in LotR and challenge the anthropocentric ideology which views nature as merely a soulless material source for us to utilize.
However, in these characters, we also learned about the destruction that we have brought to nature. Characters such as the Old Man Willow, the huorns, and
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Fangorn Forest remind us that we might bring destruction to ourselves if the exploitation of nature continues. Similar to the concept of sentient nature in LotR, Gaia theory sees the Earth as a sentient being that is composed of human and other living things. In The Revenge of Gaia, James Lovelock also compares the Earth as a patient complaining of fever. The personification of nature in both LotR and Gaia theory is aiming to demonstrate that we and other species are interconnected rather than oppose to each other.
As discussed in Chapter Three, Women in LotR are also marginal characters and they are often being objectified in the same way that nature is objectified in the
human world. However, in LotR, Éowyn’s journey of finding her own autonomy can be interpreted as symbolizing female empowerment and independence. Moreover, her decision of renouncing the dominant power that she used to pursue and choosing the power of preservation also echoes the main theme of LotR.
5.4 Conclusion
In conclusion, natural creatures and women in The Lord of the Rings both represent the voices that are marginalized under the traditional simplistic understanding of the world. However, in LotR, the lost communication between human and other species is reconnected through the creation of sentient nature and the
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
language of the nonhumans. Tolkien’s portrayal of the sentient nature in LotR not only
challenges anthropocentric worldview but also provides a possibility of understanding the world from a different perspective. In fact, many contemporary fantasy stories are heavily influenced by LotR, and the creation of an unique ecosystem with sentient nature in it is becoming one of the prominent traits in modern fantasy. Since fantasy is essentially non-anthropocentric, it contains subversive power to dominant ideologies.
Fantasy stories such as LotR exemplifies a worldview which does not rest upon the dualistic separation between human and nonhuman. Rather, it expresses an
expectation of mutual understanding between the human and nonhuman. Through the collaboration of the Free Peoples and other species in the Middle-earth, Sauron is finally defeated and the Middle-earth is saved. The Lord of the Rings demonstrates a vision of reconnecting the separated community through recovering the marginal voices and recognizing the interdependence of Self and all.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Bibliography
Adamic, Lada, and Pinkesh Patel. “Books That Have Stayed With Us,” Facebook Research, Sept 8, 2014,
https://research.fb.com/blog/2014/09/books-that-have-stayed-with-us/.
Bassham, Gregory, and Eric Bronson. The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All. Open Court, 2003.
Bedell, Haley. “Frodo Baggins: The Modern Parallel to Christ in Literature.”
Humanities Capstone Projects, Paper 24, 2015.
https://commons.pacificu.edu/cashu/24.
De Waal, Frans. “Are We in Anthropodenial?” Discover Magazine, 19 Jan. 1997,
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/are-we-in-anthropodenial.
Accessed 17 January 2020.
Descartes, Rene. “Part IV of The Earth” The Principles of Philosophy,
Kessinger Publishing, 2010.
Descartes, Rene. A Discourse on the Method of Correctly Conducting One’s Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences, Oxford University Press, 2006.
Devall, Bill, and George Sessions. Deep Ecology, Gibbs Smith, 1985.
Drout, Michael D. C. J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Taylor & Francis, 2007, p19.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Enright, Nancy. “Tolkien’s Females and the Defining of Power.” The Lord of the
Rings: New Edition. Harold Bloom. Infobase Publishing, 2008.
Evernden, Neil. “Beyond Ecology: Self, Place, and the Pathetic Fallacy.” The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, edited by Cheryll
Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, The University of Georgia Press, 1996, pp.
92-104.
Foden, Giles. “100 Books That Made A Century,” The Guardian, Jan 20, 1997,
https://www.theguardian.com/books/1997/jan/20/classics.gilesfoden.
Gaard, Greta, editor. Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature. Temple University Press, 1993.
Garrard, Greg. Ecocriticism. Routledge, 2004.
Gaukroger, Stephen. Descartes' System of Natural Philosophy. Cambridge University
Press, 2002.
Glotfelty, Cheryll. “Introduction: Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis.”
The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, edited by Cheryll
Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, The University of Georgia Press, 1996, pp. xv -xxxvii.
Goodbody, Axel, et al. Ecocritical Theory: New European Approaches. University of Virginia Press, 2011.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Haraway, Donna J. Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press, 2016.
Harvey, David. “Tree and Leaf: The Idiom of Nature.” The Song of Middle-Earth: J.
R. R. Tolkien's Themes, Symbols and Myths. Harper Collins, 2016.
Kocher, Paul. “The Free Peoples.” Master of Middle-Earth: The Achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien. Pomlico, 2002.
Kolodny, Annette. “Unearthing Herstory” The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in
Literary Ecology, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, The
University of Georgia Press, 1996, pp. 170-181.
Konijnendijk, Cecil C. The Forest and the City: The Cultural Landscape of Urban Woodland. Springer, 2018.
Łaszkiewicz, Weronika. “J.R.R. Tolkien’s Portrayal of Femininity and Its
Transformations in Subsequent Adaptations” Crossroads, 10 Dec. 2016,
http://www.crossroads.uwb.edu.pl/tolkiens-femininity-transformations.
Accessed 2 April 2020.
Lovelock, James. The Revenge of Gaia, Penguin Books, London, 2007.
Martin, George R. R. “Introduction.” Meditations on Middle-Earth: New Writing on the Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001, pp. 1–5.
Murdock, Maureen. The Heroine’s Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness. Kindle
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
ed., Shambhala, 1990.
Neumann, Erich. The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype. New York:
Pantheon Books, 1955.
Norwood, Vera L. “Heroines of Nature: Four Women Respond to the American Landscape.” The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, edited
by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, The University of Georgia Press,
1996, pp. 323-350.
Pearson, Ben. “George R. R. Martin on ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Whether Tolkien Would Have Liked His Work, and One Big Regret [Interview].” Slashfilm, 9
May 2019, https://www.slashfilm.com/george-rr-martin-interview/.
Resta, Anna Marie Resta and Bonneville Novelle. “The Mirror of Tolkien: The Natural World and Community in The Lord of the Rings.” Trumpeter, vol. 7,
no. 1, 1990.
http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/index.php/trumpet/article/view/513/870.
Rosen, Maggie. “A Feminist Perspective on the History of Women as Witches.”
Dissenting Voices, vol. 6, no. 1, 2017, Article 5.
https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/dissentingvoices/vol6/iss1/5.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Shippey, Tom. “Tolkien as a Post-War Writer.” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature, vol. 21, no. 2, 1996,
Article 16.
https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol21/iss2/16.
Stevens, Lara, et al., editors. Feminist Ecologies. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
Thomson, Irene Taviss. “Individualism but Not to Excess.” Culture Wars and Enduring American Dilemmas. University of Michigan Press, 2010,
pp.84-109.
Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy-Stories.” The Monster and the Critics, edited by Christopher Tolkien, Harper Collins, 2006, pp.109-161.
--. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Harper Collins, 2012.
--. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harper Collins, 2012.
--. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Harper Collins, 2012.
--. The Hobbit, Harper Collins, 2007.
--. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: A Selection, edited by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1981.
--. The Monsters and the Critics: and Other Essays, Harper Collins, 2006.
Tolkien, Simon. “Tolkien’s Grandson on How WW1 inspired The Lord of the Rings” BBC, 3 Jan. 2017,
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20161223-tolkiens-grandson-on-how-ww1-inspired-the-lord-of-the-rings. Accessed 1 April 2020.
Wormeli, Rick. Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching Any Subject.
Stenhouse Publishers, 2009.
“2001 Amsterdam Declaration on Earth System Science – IGBP” IGBP,
http://www.igbp.net/about/history/2001amsterdamdeclarationonearthsystemsci ence.4.1b8ae20512db692f2a680001312.html.