尋回邊緣的聲音：《魔戒》的生態批評閱讀 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士論文. 指導教授：羅狼仁先生 Advisor: Dr. Brian David Phillips. 政治大尋回邊緣的聲音：立《魔戒》的生態批評閱讀. ‧ 國. 學. Recovering the Marginal Voices:. ‧. An Ecocritical Reading of The Lord of the Rings. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 研究生: 枋采穎撰 Name: Fang Tsai-Ying 中華民國 109 年 6 月 June 2020. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(2) Recovering the Marginal Voices: An Ecocritical Reading of The Lord of the Rings. A Master Thesis Presented to Department of English,. 政治大 National 立 Chengchi University ‧. ‧ 國. 學 er. io. al. sit. y. Nat In Partial Fulfillment. n. iv n C of the Requirements h e n gfor i UDegree of c hthe Master of Arts. By Fang, Tsai-Ying 06, 2020. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(3) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. ii. i Un. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(4) To Dr. Brian David Phillips and my parents. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. iii. i Un. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(5) Acknowledgments. The Lord of the Rings has been my favorite novel ever since I first read it in my junior high years. It introduces me to the enchanting world of fantasy literature and shows me the power of imagination from a young age. I am very lucky to be able to choose a work that I am deeply connected to as my thesis topic. Writing a thesis about LotR allows me to further my knowledge about Tolkien and his works as well as the. 政治大. age that helps produce this masterpiece. In this thesis, I combine my interest in. 立. ecocriticism and seek to provide an analysis of the current environment and social. ‧ 國. 學. injustice in the context of The Lord of the Rings.. ‧. I want to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Professor Brian David. y. Nat. al. er. io. sit. Phillips, whose abundant knowledge of LotR and fantasy literature helps me. n. overcome the difficulties I encountered during the writing process. He patiently helps. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. me develop my argument and shares his insight on this thesis with me. His continued support and guidance bring this thesis to completion. I also want to thank my committee members, Professor Thomas Sellari, Professor Li-Hsin Hsu, and Professor Timothy Fox, for their valuable suggestions and advice that help me make my thesis more thorough. My parents have been very supportive of my studies and I am very grateful for their unconditional love. Even when I was in doubt of myself and felt faltered, they. iv. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(6) always encourage me to keep writing. While writing a thesis can sometimes be a lonely process, my friends provide great emotional support to keep me motivated. I want to thank Sylvia and Ming-fang for sharing their experiences from writing their thesis with me. I am also indebted to Gretchen, who provides great assistance to me during the most difficult time of this thesis’s completion. Although writing a thesis is a tough and often struggling process, I am glad that I finished it. Words cannot describe how much I benefited from the research and. 政治大 writing process. I hope this thesis 立 can be a small contribution to the Tolkien and LotR ‧. ‧ 國. 學. io. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. studies.. Ch. engchi. v. i Un. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(7) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. vi. i Un. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(8) Table of Contents. Acknowledgments......................................................................................................... iv Chinese Abstract ........................................................................................................... ix English Abstract ............................................................................................................. x Chapter One ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Review of Literature ............................................................................................ 7 1.3 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 9 1.4 Argument ........................................................................................................... 17. 政治大. 1.5 Organization ....................................................................................................... 29. 立. 1.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 29. ‧ 國. 學. Chapter Two................................................................................................................. 31 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 31. ‧. 2.2 Symbiotic Relationships with Nature: Lothlórien and the Shire ....................... 32. sit. y. Nat. 2.3 Exploitive Relationship with Nature: Industrialization in LotR ........................ 37. er. io. 2.4 Radical Individualism ........................................................................................ 44. al. iv n C 2.6 The Formless Enemy ......................................................................................... 50 hengchi U n. 2.5 The Abusive Power of the One Ring ................................................................. 47. 2.7 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 53 Chapter Three............................................................................................................... 55 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 55 3.2 Sense of Separation from Nature ....................................................................... 55 3.3 The Anthropocene .............................................................................................. 61 3.4 Nature and Women as the Other ........................................................................ 63 3.5 The Desire of Domination as a Force of Marginalization ................................. 71 3.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 76 Chapter Four ................................................................................................................ 77. vii. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(9) 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 77 4.2 Sentient Nature in LotR ...................................................................................... 78 4.3 Identifying with the Collective Self ................................................................... 83 4.4 Fantasy as a Subversive Power to Dominant Ideologies ................................... 91 4.5 The Power of Preservation ................................................................................. 93 4.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 98 Chapter Five ............................................................................................................... 101 5.1 Main Argument ................................................................................................ 101 5.2 Radical Individualism and the Abuse of Power ............................................... 102 5.3 The Marginalized Voices ................................................................................. 103. 政治大. 5.4 Reconnecting the Eco-Community .................................................................. 104. 立. 5.4 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 105. ‧ 國. 學. Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 107. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. viii. i Un. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(10) 國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班碩士論文提要論文名稱：尋回邊緣的聲音：《魔戒》的生態批評閱讀指導教授：羅狼仁. 先生. 研究生：枋采穎論文提要內容：托爾金的《魔戒》故事場景設定在「中土世界」，一個充滿奇幻生物和具感. 政治大知能力的自然環境的幻想世界。和大部分以人類為中心的故事不同，在這個世立. ‧ 國. 學. 界裡，自然生物和環境是推進整個故事的共同行動者而非沉默的背景。本文旨. ‧. 在透過生態批評方法探討《魔戒》中人類與非人類的關係，並進而反思當代的. sit. y. Nat. 環境與倫理問題。本文採用深層生態學和蓋亞理論等生態理論闡述現代的二元. n. al. er. io. 論意識形態如何壓迫與剝削自然環境和邊緣群體，並且《魔戒》中的自然生物. Ch. i Un. v. 和女性角色如何也在這樣的意識形態下被邊緣化。然而，奇幻文學也可以是一. engchi. 種對主流意識形態的反抗，而《魔戒》正是一個很好的例子。《魔戒》不僅挑戰了人類中心的思維，更透過尋回邊緣群體的聲音展示了不同物種之間的相互關聯性。. 關鍵字：《魔戒》、托爾金、生態批評、邊緣化、人類中心主義、奇幻文學. ix. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(11) Abstract J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is set in the Middle-earth, an imaginary world that is full of fantasy creatures and sentient natural landscapes. Unlike most human-centered stories, these natural creatures and landscapes are co-actors rather than just silent backgrounds of the story. This thesis investigates the relationship between human and nonhuman in the context of LotR through an eco-critical reading and provides an analysis of the environmental and ethical problems in both the. 政治大 Middle-earth and in our world. Several eco-critical theories such as Deep Ecology and 立. ‧ 國. 學. Gaia theory are used in this thesis to demonstrate how the exploitation of the natural. ‧. environment and the social exploitation of marginal groups are under the similar. sit. y. Nat. oppressive structure of modern dualistic ideology. Moreover, this thesis also argues. n. al. er. io. that the marginalization of natural creatures and female characters in LotR is a result. Ch. i Un. v. of this simplistic understanding of the world. However, fantasy as a genre can be a. engchi. subversive power to these dominant ideologies and LotR is an example of this as it challenges anthropocentric ideology and demonstrates the interconnection of different species through recovering the voices of the marginal groups.. Keywords: The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ecocriticism, marginalization, anthropocentrism, fantasy literature. x. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(12) Chapter One Introduction. 1.1 Introduction The Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular novels from the 20th century to this day. In a 1997 survey, The Lord of the Rings was the first one on the list of 100 books that made a century1, and it is still one of the top three popular books in 2014.2. 政治大 The Lord of the Rings, a fantasy trilogy written by English writer John Ronald Reuel 立. ‧ 國. 學. Tolkien, is not only a sequel to his previous novel, The Hobbit, LotR (abbreviation of. ‧. The Lord of the Rings) is also one of the stories in Tolkien's legendarium, a. sit. y. Nat. mythopoeia that Tolkien worked on for over 50 years. Although the story of LotR is. n. al. er. io. set in a fictional world called the Middle-earth, the influence of Tolkien’s knowledge. Ch. i Un. v. in mythology, theology, and his experience of World War I and World War II can also. engchi. be found in his imaginary world. Tolkien joined the British army during World War I and was therefore directly involved in WWI as a temporary second lieutenant and participated in the battle of Somme and other offensives. He was eventually sent back to England after he had. Foden, Giles. “100 books that made a century,” The Guardian, Jan 20, 1997, https://www.theguardian.com/books/1997/jan/20/classics.gilesfoden. 2 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/. 1. 1. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(13) trench fever. However, many of his friends died during WWI. The horror of the destructive power of modern technology and the misery caused by human obsession with power become the inspiration for his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. The industrial power is represented by Mordor and Isengard in LotR as both of these places build their military forces through the exploitation of natural resources. Moreover, the soldiers and weapons in these places are often produced in a way that reminds us of the mass production of industrialization. Tolkien’s experience in WWI. 政治大 also helps him to depict the comradeship between soldiers during hardships. The bond 立. ‧ 國. 學. between Sam and Frodo is a vivid example of this. Another direct allusion to the. ‧. author’s experience of WWI is the trauma of war. At the end of the story, Frodo. Nat. io. sit. y. suffers from a wound that cannot be healed, which is reminiscent of the war trauma. er. that many soldiers suffered after coming back from the battlefield. In the last chapter,. al. n. iv n C Frodo said to Sam: “I have been tooh deeply hurt, Sam. U e n g c h i I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me” (Tolkien, The Return of the King 1029). World War II also has a huge impact on Tolkien’s works. Although he was not directly involved in WWII, two of his sons joined the British army during WWII. Tolkien worked on LotR between 1937 and 1949, and the novel was published in the 1950s. It might not be a coincidence that the enemy in LotR shares many similarities with the Nazis. For instance, the police-state occupation and surveillance system of. 2. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(14) the industrialized Shire echo the Nazi occupation of Europe in WWII. Furthermore, the hierarchical and dominative worldview of Saruman and Sauron echoes the hierarchical and racist ideology that resulted in the horrible genocide during WWII. The evilness of Mordor and Isengard depicted in LotR also shows how false ideologies and human arrogance can be greatly destructive to our society. The influence of industrialization during WWI and WWII can also be seen in the war of the Ring. The pollution of the natural environment and the exploitation of. 政治大 workers and the natural world 立is a recurrent theme in LotR. The deforestation of the. ‧ 國. 學. Fangorn forest and the barren land of Mordor and Isengard can be read as Tolkien’s. ‧. portrayals of the devastated landscape after excessive industrialization. The ugly. Nat. io. sit. y. houses, great chimney, steaming mill, and water pollution in the occupied Shire is also. er. a reflection of industrialized England. The horror of industrialized war and the. al. n. iv n C destructive power of modern weapons be seen in LotR. For instance, the h ecannalso gchi U “blasting fire” used by the orcs is similar to the bombs used in modern warfare. The lifeless landscape of Mordor which is filled with fire, ash, and “poisonous fumes” is another allusion to the industrialized battlefield. Fantasy as a genre also serves as an important gateway for writers to express the unimaginable human evilness and the horrifying consequence of it during WWI and WWII. Tom Shippey argues that authors such as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis centered. 3. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(15) their major theme on “the nature of evil” and “turned to fantasy […] because they felt that the theme of human evil was not one which could be rendered adequately or confronted directly” (Shippey 85). Many authors of fantasy in the 20th century such as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis fought in the First World War and experienced the horror of the Second World War, and their personal experience of these great wars can be found in the fantasy stories they created. Furthermore, fantasy as a genre also went through some changes during these wars. Some fantasy such as the Arthurian legend expresses. 政治大 a sense of nationalism by depicting 立 a collective past of a nation. During WWI and. ‧ 國. 學. WWII, the chivalric ideal in these national myths sometimes becomes a useful. ‧. medium for military propaganda to evoke patriotism (Wormeli 121). After WWI, the. Nat. io. sit. y. collective trauma of the war can be seen in fantasy stories. For instance, the hero of. er. LotR, Frodo, suffers from an invisible wound that cannot be healed at the end of the. al. n. iv n C story. Moreover, the dead marsh in LotR, landscape filled with corpses, is h e na barren gchi U. also a direct allusion to the horrible scene that the author witnessed during the Battle of Somme (Tolkien, Letters 321). While some fantasy stories express the collective wounds of the war, some reflect on the nature of evil. After the horrible holocaust of WWII, fantasy writers such as Tolkien depict the human weakness and greed for power and control in their writings about the nature of evil. Despite their bleak depictions of war and human wickedness, these fantasy stories often offer consolation. 4. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(16) and hope for a better future at the end of the story. When Sam looks up at the sky from the barren land of Mordor, he tells himself: “in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach” (Tolkien, The Return of the King 922). The Lord of the Rings helped define modern fantasy and influenced numerous fantasy writers of today. George R.R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, points out Tolkien’s influence on modern fantasy: “he really created the genre that we. 政治大 call fantasy today. Of course,立 fantasy goes back hundreds of years. […] But Tolkien. ‧ 國. 學. created a whole new template that not only me, but every modern fantasist is. ‧. following” (Pearson). LotR is so well-received not only because of Tolkien’s. Nat. io. sit. y. meticulous creation of an imagined world filled with imaginary creatures and cultures. n. al. er. but also because many of the conflicts and dilemmas in the Middle-earth reflect the current issues in our world.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Apart from being a successful writer, Tolkien was also a respected linguistic scholar. In his myth-making project, Tolkien experimented with creating languages within the cultural context of the Middle-earth. For Tolkien, language co-evolves with culture. Furthermore, he believed that “language construction will breed a mythology” (Tolkien, The Monsters 210). He explained the inseparable relationship between myth and language by suggesting that “the making of language and mythology are related. 5. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(17) functions; to give your language an individual ﬂavour, it must have woven into it the threads of an individual mythology” (Tolkien, The Monsters 210). In this way, LotR can be viewed as a context that Tolkien created for his language experiment. This thesis will focus on how Tolkien depicts the ecosystem of Middle-earth and portrays the marginal voices represented by natural creatures and women. The oppression of nature in LotR also parallels today’s environmental issues, whether Tolkien himself was aware of them or not. Tolkien’s concern about the exploitation of. 政治大 nature, for instance, is shown立 in the recurrent contrast between the industrial and. ‧ 國. 學. agrarian society in LotR. The theme of the exploited and vengeful nature can also be. ‧. seen to mirror today's environmental crisis such as climate change and other natural. io. sit. y. Nat. disasters. Therefore, investigating Tolkien’s representation of nature can help us. er. understand the ideology behind the eco and ethical crisis in both Middle-earth and our. al. n. iv n C world. Through analyzing the representation h e n gofcmarginal h i U groups such as nature and. women in LotR, this thesis will demonstrate how the force of marginalization works and how it is challenged in Tolkien’s work. The story of LotR concerns the War of the Ring in the Third Age of Middle-earth. The One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron, possesses a great power yet also corrupts the owner. The War of the Ring thus begins between the Dark Lord and the. 6. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(18) Free Peoples, with Sauron seeking to dominate the Middle-earth and the Free Peoples trying to overthrow him by destroying the source of his power, the One Ring.. 1.2 Review of Literature Some critics such as Anna Marie Resta and Bonneville Novelle see the destruction of the natural world in The Lord of the Rings as Tolkien’s portrayal of the destructive aspect of the industrial revolution. They connect The One Ring with the. 政治大 unnatural and mechanistic power and Mordor with the technocratic society in which 立. ‧ 國. 學. all living things are considered only by their instrumental or resource value. On the. ‧. other hand, they connect the Free Folk with a more natural and organic society in. sit. y. Nat. which every living thing is linked to everything else. They argue that the Ring. n. al. er. io. represents “the epitome of consumption and power-over control” (Resta and Novelle). Ch. i Un. v. which the bearer does not possess, but is being possessed by. According to them, the. engchi. human lifestyle today has been possessed by technocratic ideology like the victims of the Ring, and the destruction of the environment is one of the results. Since Tolkien was a faithful Catholic and once described LotR as a “fundamentally religious and Catholic work” in his letter to Robert Murray (Tolkien, Letters 142), some scholars try to find Christian symbolism in his works. For instance, Haley Bedel argues that Frodo is the Christ figure in LotR and Michael D. C.. 7. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(19) Drout suggests that Gandalf is an angel from the Valar. On the other hand, Javier Martín-Párraga and Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero also point out the angel and fallen angel symbolism in Tolkien’s portrayal of the elves and Sauron. Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson compare Taoist and Buddhist philosophies with the text of LotR and find Tolkien’s depiction of the sentient nature echoes both philosophies’ idea that nature is not just a setting but a vital force. In terms of Tolkien’s difference with Taoist and Buddhist ideas, they argue that Tolkien prefers. 政治大 domesticated nature over wild 立nature, and this can be linked to his Catholic. ‧ 國. 學. background which distrusts wild nature and holds the notion that human beings. ‧. maintain a special status in nature.. io. sit. y. Nat. Paul Kocher also examines Tolkien’s work through the lens of Christian ideas,. er. but he puts more emphasis on Tolkien’s depictions of cross-species communication.. al. n. iv n C He argues that Tolkien accepted the h Christian doctrine U e n g c h i that “at his creation Man was given dominion over all other creatures” (Kocher 83), and is thus separated from other animals. According to Kocher, Tolkien tried to reconcile this sense of separation by creating living creatures that we can once more converse within his fantasy works. Compared with male characters, female characters are portrayed in relatively few passages in LotR; nonetheless, the roles they play in the story still retain special meanings that attract some critics’ attention. David Harvey, for example, argues that. 8. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(20) myths become realities in LotR. He proposes that Galadriel is the “Earth Mother” in the Third Age, a mythic tradition that Tolkien carried on from the fertility goddesses of ancient religion. Fertility and safety are therefore represented by a female form, and the Ents’ loss of Entwives becomes symbolic of the irreplaceability of nature after the destruction made by industrial society.. 1.3 Methodology. 政治大 Many critics have explored the detrimental impact that the Industrial 立. ‧ 國. 學. Revolution and anthropocentrism have on nature in LotR. However, few have. ‧. discussed the correlation between the oppression of different marginal groups such as. sit. y. Nat. women, minorities, and natural creatures. With these unexplored issues in mind, I will. n. al. er. io. investigate how nature is represented and how the oppression of nature in The Lord of. Ch. i Un. v. the Rings reflects current human and environmental conditions. To understand. engchi. Tolkien’s nature writing more thoroughly, this thesis borrows several concepts from ecocriticism. Cheryll Glotfelty suggests that ecocriticism expands the notion of “the world” from the social sphere to the entire ecosphere, and “all ecological criticism shares the fundamental premise that human culture is connected to the physical world, affecting it and affected by it” (xix). This notion of nature as a co-actor and not just a silent stage is important in understanding Tolkien’s portrayal of sentient nature and his. 9. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(21) creation of natural beings in Middle-earth. For example, nature is also victimized in the War of the Ring since nature, nonhumans, and humans are all interconnected and mutually affected within the ecosphere of the Middle-earth. Glotfelty argues that the environmental crisis is a result of “our fragmented, compartmentalized, and overly specialized way of knowing the world” (xxii). However, fantasy might possess the subversive potential to this simplistic worldview, for fantasy is a genre that challenges the dualistic anthropocentric worldview and. 政治大 gives voice to the ones that are 立marginalized or presumed to be silent. Thus, fantasy. ‧ 國. 學. can help us to break down the simplistic understanding of our world, “so that the. ‧. things seen clearly may be freed from the drab blur of triteness or familiarity—from. io. sit. y. Nat. possessiveness” (Tolkien, “On Fairy Stories” 146). Although fantasy stories are still. er. written by humans and thus cannot fully escape from human perception of our world,. al. n. iv n C many fantasy stories possess a subversive to anthropocentric worldview since h e npower gchi U they allow us to consider the possibility of understanding our world through the voices of the nonhuman. Deep Ecology, an ecological philosophy first proposed by Norwegian. philosopher Arne Dekke Eide Næ ss, emphasizes the intrinsic value of every entity in nature independent of their values as resources for humans. Deep ecology maintains that the current environmental crisis is a result of the dualistic worldview which. 10. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(22) separates humans from nature. Besides pointing out the separative effect of dominant anthropocentric discourse, Næ ss argues for an egalitarian attitude towards all entities in the natural world by recognizing the intrinsic worth and inter-relatedness of all beings in the ecosphere. For Næ ss, humans are part of the Earth, not a master of it, and we share an inter-relationship with other species within the ecosystem. He proposes “self-realization”: the concept of expanding the self to identify with other entities in nature in order to achieve “biocentric equality”. According to Devall and. 政治大 Sessions, the modern Self is 立 defined as an isolated ego that hinders our search of. ‧ 國. 學. “spiritual/biological personhood”.. ‧. In other words, deep ecology argues for a realization of a wider self, a broader. Nat. io. sit. y. sense of identity which unfolds the Self from the isolated ego to a collective identity. er. with the whole ecosystem. In LotR, the Ents’ decision about going to war is a result of. al. n. iv n C this realization of a wider Self. Although are unwilling to join the war at first, h e nthegEnts chi U they change their minds when they recognize their interdependent relationship with others and broaden their sense of Self from an isolated to a collective one. A similar concept about the interrelated ecosystem can also be found in Gaia theory, a hypothesis proposed by the UK chemist, James Lovelock. Gaia theory sees the Earth as a living and self-regulating organism, while human and other species are seen as components of one large body of the Earth. This concept is exemplified in the. 11. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(23) statement of the 2001 Amsterdam Declaration on Earth System Science: “The Earth System behaves as a single, self-regulating system with physical, chemical, biological, and human components” (“2001 Amsterdam Declaration”). The view of the living and conscious Earth challenges the traditional anthropocentric worldview and parallels Tolkien’s depiction of sentient nature. Gaia theory also stresses on the interdependent relationship between species and the importance of biodiversity in maintaining homeostasis. Lovelock proposes that the Earth is a large organism that. 政治大 co-evolves with its inhabitants 立and relies on the cooperation of them.. ‧ 國. 學. Gaia theory challenges two ideas that are central to traditional anthropocentric. ‧. worldview: that human is superior to other living things and that the natural. Nat. io. sit. y. environment is a passive background. In The Ages of Gaia, Lovelock argues that. er. organisms and the environment are interdependent and mutually influential. Similar to. al. n. iv n C Gaia theory’s vision of the conscioushand co-evolutiveU e n g c h i environment, nature in LotR is also portrayed as sentient and possesses its own will. The Ents and Huorns, for instance, are tree-like creatures who are able to speak and act independently. They. eventually destroy Isengard and defeat Saruman’s army of orcs after Saruman and the orcs cut down a large number of trees of Fangorn Forest. In LotR, the Ents and Huorns are the most direct epitomes of the active and conscious environment which interacts with other living things instead of passively stand as a background. In LotR,. 12. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(24) there are many nonhuman characters such as sentient animals, dwarves, orcs, elves, hobbits, and the Maiars. Since Gaia theory overthrows the reductive view of our natural environment, borrowing Gaia theory’s concept of the living earth can help shed light on Tolkien’s representation of nature as it provides a new way to interpret the relationship between human and nonhuman. Gaia theory’s collaborative and interdependent worldview also helps to decentralize the traditional anthropocentric and hierarchical ideologies.. 政治大 Donna Haraway’s Staying 立 with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. ‧ 國. 學. provides us another perspective to look at our relationship with other species. Similar. ‧. to Deep Ecology and Gaia theory, Haraway also emphasizes the interconnectedness. Nat. io. sit. y. between species rather than emphasizes the difference between human and nonhuman.. er. In this book, Haraway advocates for a transformation from anthropocentric thinking. al. n. iv n C to “tentacular thinking”. Human exceptionalism h e n g cmaintains h i U that humans are superior to other species and that we have the power to control and dominate our environment. In this anthropocentric thinking, the relationship between the human race and other species is hierarchical and often exploitive. On the other hand, Haraway’s “tentacular thinking” emphasizes the inter-species and symbiotic relationship in the natural world. In “Chthulucene”, an alternative concept she uses for Anthropocene, the most important thing is to recognize that we are kin to other species and all species share an. 13. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(25) inner connection with others. Haraway argues that “unlike either the Anthropocene or the Capitalocene, the Chthulucene is made up of ongoing multispecies stories” (Haraway 55). While the human and nonhuman relationship in the Anthropocene is vertical, the relationship between us and other beings in Chthulucene is horizontal and multifaceted as the inter-species communication is an ongoing process. Only when we forfeit human exceptionalism and try to understand the multispecies stories of our world will we make it a livable place for all beings.. 政治大 Women’s oppression is立 also linked with the oppression of nature since both are. ‧ 國. 學. the result of the Self and Other binarism and the association of power with. ‧. dominance. Patriarchal ideology maintains the gendered stereotypes through the. io. sit. y. Nat. binary construction of women’s Otherness; similarly, anthropocentric ideology. er. justifies its exploitation of nature through the dualistic construction of nature as a. al. n. iv n C passive environment that is separated According to Annette Kolodny, the hfrom e nus. gchi U construction of women’s Otherness can also be seen in the common association of woman with nature in literature, especially in the archetypal imagery of “a daily reality of harmony between man and nature based on an experience of the land as essentially feminine – that is, nor simply the land as mother, but the land as woman” (Kolodny 171). This kind of stereotypical depiction constructs women’s Otherness and subjugated status by linking tnhem with nature. In some way, the construction of. 14. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(26) women’s association with nature solidifies the subjugated status of both as they are both marginalized by the similar dualistic discourses of anthropocentrism and androcentrism. This does not suggest that women are immune to anthropocentric and androcentric ideologies; instead, women can also internalize these ideologies and participate in the process of oppression. However, since the association of women with nature prevails in Tolkien’s works and his female characters are often marginalized, I will investigate the connection between nature and women’s. 政治大 oppression as an ecocritical issue 立 in this thesis and analyze how they are both. ‧ 國. 學. victimized by the same Self and Other dualism behind the androcentric and. ‧. anthropocentric ideology.. Nat. io. sit. y. Underneath the anthropocentric worldview lies the binarism of Self and Other:. er. the ideology that separates humans from nature and nonhuman. Glotfelty’s idea about. al. n. iv n C the differences between using “enviro-” helps to explain how the h eand n g“eco-” chi U. separation of nature and human can be constructed through language: “enviro- is anthropocentric and dualistic, implying that we humans are at the center, surrounded by everything that is not us, the environment. Eco-, in contrast, implies interdependent communities” (xx). In addition to the overturning of the anthropocentric idea of nature being a silent environment that is separated from us, LotR also depicts how the interconnected communities (both in Middle-earth and in our world) could be. 15. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(27) separated by the Self and Other dualism. According to Glotfelty, this dualistic ideology is the source of separation. In LotR, the characters’ senses of separation are all connected with similar dualistic ideologies though they appear in different forms. After analyzing the dualistic ideology behind the oppression of marginalized groups in LotR, I will borrow Neil Evernden’s idea of the “relatedness of self within place” to demonstrate how LotR is a story that celebrates the interconnection between individuals over radical individualism. Evernden denies the existence of a pure. 政治大 individual by suggesting “there 立is no such thing as an individual, only an individual-. ‧ 國. 學. in-context, individual as a component of place, defined by place” (Evernden 103). His. ‧. idea echoes deep ecology’s concept of the collective Self and will help to demonstrate. Nat. io. sit. y. the power of resistance in Chapter Four. This recognition of inter-relatedness will. er. bring out the concept of sharing, the key to resist the Self and Other binarism in LotR.. al. n. iv n C Not only is the Self and Otherhdualism reconciled e n g c h i Uby the concept of sharing,. Tolkien’s writing of fantasy, a genre that resists traditional anthropocentric worldview, is also a form of resistance to anthropocentric values. It voices for the marginal groups and rebuilds the connection between Self and all.. 16. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(28) 1.4 Argument One of the similarities between anthropocentrism and androcentric ideology is the same pinnacle world view which puts the Self at the center while pushing others to the margin. In this sense, both anthropocentrism and androcentric ideologies are grounded in similar radical individualism which ignores the interconnection within the community. In “Individualism but Not to Excess,” Irene Taviss Thomson argues that while individualism and community are good, they can be negative when they. 政治大 become excessive. According to her, the excesses of community can be seen as 立. ‧ 國. 學. conformity or tribalism. On the other hand, radical individualism – the excessive. ‧. individual desire – can become selfishness. In this thesis, I will argue that the. sit. y. Nat. oppression of the marginal voices such as women and natural creatures in The Lord of. n. al. er. io. the Rings is closely linked with the emergence of radical individualism and the. Ch. i Un. v. binarism of Self and Other. In LotR, radical individualism is represented by the power. engchi. of the Ring, which enlarges the desire of individual fulfillment. Moreover, this desire often becomes a dominative one and gradually erodes the symbiotic relationship in the community. In Tolkien’s works, there is a sharp contrast between symbiotic relationships and hierarchical relationships. For instance, hobbits in the Shire share a symbiotic relationship with their environment and Beor in The Hobbit lives symbiotically with. 17. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(29) various animals. These can be seen as Tolkien’s representations of the ideal co-living state between human and non-human; however, he also depicts how the symbiotic relationship is gradually replaced by a more hierarchical relationship. In this sense, the whole story of LotR can also be read as an allegory of how radical individualism changes a symbiotic relationship into a hierarchical one. While the symbiotic relationship is associated with companionship and community, radical individualism is often accompanied by isolation and separation. Boromir, for example, was. 政治大 devoured by his desire for individual 立 fulfillment, which can be accomplished through. ‧ 國. 學. the power of the Ring. However, his desire for the Ring eventually leads to the. ‧. breaking up of the company of the Ring.. Nat. io. sit. y. Another example of the influence of radical individualism can be seen in the. er. change of Saruman as observed by Treebeard. The one-way communication between. al. n. iv n C him and Treebeard foreshadows the h dissolution of the previously symbiotic engchi U. relationship. Saruman eventually isolates himself from his environment and breaks his relationship with the Ents because of the desire for dominant power. Radical individualism and the desire of power not only lead to the breaking of the symbiotic relationship but also result in the emergence of an exploitative and hierarchical society which reduces people to their functional roles like cogs in the machine. Isengard and Mordor, for example, are representatives of this kind of. 18. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(30) hierarchical society where people are deprived of individual free will. Isengard and Mordor are also the epitomes of Saruman and Sauron’s radical individualism and their isolation exemplifies a strong sense of the distinction between Self and Other. In this sense, radical individualism not only leads to the external separation of the community but also the internal separation of the Self from Other. The conflict of Self and Other is thus externalized in the context of the Middle-earth, and the way to find the balance between the two is demonstrated in the quest of destroying the Ring.. 政治大 At the very beginning 立 of the story, the force of separation is beginning to take. ‧ 國. 學. effect in the first symbiotic society that the reader encounters, the Shire. Frodo and the. ‧. Sackville-Baggins family’s contention over Bag End, a beautiful hobbit hole,. io. sit. y. Nat. foreshadows LotR’s main theme: the separation of the community caused by. er. individual desire. Moreover, the Sackville-Baggins family even cooperates with. al. n. iv n C Saruman later in order to gain control regardless of the harm that the h inethe n gShire chi U whole Shire will suffer. In this respect, their action embodies a radical individualism which focuses on excessive individual free will and fulfillment without taking the well-being of the community into consideration. In addition, Boromir’s struggle for the Ring also shows the same conflict between individual fulfillment and collective responsibility since his desire for power, embodied by the Ring, conflicts with the goal of the company of the Ring and the common good of the Middle-earth.. 19. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(31) Therefore, the paradox of free will is one of the main themes in LotR, and the greatest war in the story is not the war with Sauron but the battle of the Self to overcome radical individual desire in everyday life. The real enemy in LotR is often not a force outside but inside the self. Tolkien’s portrayal of Sauron, the Ring, and the Ring-wraiths, for example, often puts more emphasis on their threats and temptations upon the characters’ minds rather than their physical prowess. Since radical individualism denies collective responsibilities, those who are. 政治大 devoured by their desire choose 立 isolation like Sauron, Saruman, Gollum, and the. ‧ 國. 學. Sackville-Baggins. The choice of isolation is particularly important in analyzing the. ‧. emergence of hierarchical oppression in LotR because it signals a change from the. Nat. io. sit. y. symbiotic society to an exploitive society. In LotR, Isengard and Mordor represent. er. societies that deny mutual responsibilities and rely on hierarchical authority and. al. n. iv n C utilitarian relationship. On the contrary, h eBeor’s h i inUThe Hobbit and Tom n g chouse. Bombadil’s realm in LotR are representative of the symbiotic society where “all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves” (Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 124). These places in LotR illustrate a symbiotic ideal in which human and nonhuman live together not under a hierarchical but a mutually supportive relationship.. 20. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(32) Many of the issues that are present in LotR still exist today in our world. LotR portrays an age where symbiotic agrarian society is fading and gradually being replaced by a more exploitive industrial society. Tom Bombadil’s realm is becoming smaller and smaller, while the exploitive society of Mordor and Isengard is becoming more and more powerful. Nevertheless, exploitive power is not only exerted by Sauron and Saruman but also by many free peoples in LotR. The marginalization of women and oppression of nature, for example, is exerted both by Sauron and the free. 政治大 peoples. In this respect, the free 立peoples also become exploiters when they use the. ‧ 國. 學. same dualistic ideology to dominate or marginalize different voices.. ‧. Traditional heroism fulfills self-ego by conquering the Other, and the Other is. Nat. io. sit. y. often portrayed as frightening and treacherous. The oppression and marginalization of. er. women and nature are results of this same fear of the Other. In LotR, wild nature is. al. n. iv n C often being suspected or described as h“treacherous” e n g c h iandUwomen who contradict. traditional gender ideals are seen as dangerous. É owyn, for example, is trapped in the domestic sphere while her heart desires to enter the public sphere like her brother. On the other hand, Galadriel lives freely in the woods of Lórien and is able to exert her power by her own will, yet her freedom makes her fall into the category of the uncontrollable Other and she is also being suspected as a sorceress in the wood in the eyes of men.. 21. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(33) Among the few female characters in LotR, Galadriel is notably given more complexity than other female characters. If Arwen represents the traditional feminine role of a maiden in waiting and Éowyn’s story embodies the awakening of female autonomy, then Galadriel represents the strong and independent female power in LotR. However, the descriptions of Galadriel shift between beautiful and threatening as her power is a transgressive force which disrupts traditional gender dichotomy. Therefore, Galadriel’s image often overlaps with the witch image, a stereotype that is. 政治大 often used to represent the transgressive woman. 立. ‧ 國. 學. In “A Feminist Perspective on the History of Women as Witches,” Maggie. ‧. Rosen writes, “The witch image is used to reinforce gender inequality and. io. sit. y. Nat. marginalize women who push back against our patriarchal society” (Rosen 21). To. er. clarify how the image of the witch is used to demonize women in power like. al. n. iv n C Galadriel and to maintain patriarchalhvalues, the doubleUstandard imposed on men and engchi women in power cannot be ignored. Gandalf, for example, is also powerful and knowledgeable like Galadriel, yet he does not receive the same distrust and discrimination that are imposed on Galadriel by the Rohans and the dwarves. Galadriel only seems threatening to the men of Rohan because her power disrupts the traditional functionality of gender roles in society and allows her to enter a predominantly male space.. 22. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(34) Throughout the novel, there is almost no interaction between female characters. One of the reasons for this might be that the author, though successfully portrays male comradeship that he experienced in wartime, is less familiar with the friendship between females. Another reason is that there are just too few female characters in the books, and they are almost all confined in the domestic sphere, which disallows them to interact with each other. In this way, female characters are isolated in the domestic space and lose the potentially subversive power through collaborating with other. 立. females.. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. In this sense, the dualism of the Self and the Other not only separates human. ‧. from nature but also separates people from each other through the classification of. io. sit. y. Nat. social and gender roles. The separation of people’s social roles is often related to the. er. operation of gendered language. Femininity, for example, is often associated with. al. n. iv n C domestic and healing nature, while masculinity h e n g cishoften i Uconstructed as a dominant power. However, the alienation occurs when the self is at odds with the traditional definition of their social roles. Gender norms, like the idea of nature as a passive environment, are socially constructed. Éowyn’s dilemma between her gender role and her dream of becoming a warrior is rooted in the social construction of gender. She feels caged in her gender role when “all her life seemed shrinking, and the walls of her bower closing in about. 23. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(35) her, a hutch to trammel some wild thing in” (Tolkien, The Return of the King 867). Similarly, Faramir also struggles between his social role and his nature because his gentle and compassionate personality does not meet the traditionally masculine qualities that his father prefers and sees in his brother, Boromir. Moreover, both nature and women are defined as passive ones because of their roles as life-givers and resource producers. In order to make sure keeping the current function of society, patriarchal ideology is used to control women while. 政治大 anthropocentrism is used to justify 立 the exploitation of nature and animals. However,. ‧ 國. 學. these ideologies are often being questioned in LotR as Tolkien puts many efforts in. ‧. depicting sentient and active nature which resists the traditional anthropocentric. io. sit. y. Nat. ideology. Despite the depiction of the fading of symbiotic society, Tolkien’s. er. resistance to dualistic and hierarchical ideologies can still be found in the novel. The. al. n. iv n C War of the Ring can be seen as a battle the hierarchical power and h eofnresisting gchi U dualistic ideologies of the Self. Every individual first begins a battle within. themselves and later influences others. É owyn and Treebeard, for example, first challenge their defined roles as the passive and objectified Other and later find their subjectivities and agencies while helping their community to overthrow the hierarchical power in the War of the Ring.. 24. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(36) In order to rebuild the connection within the community of the Middle-earth, Tolkien reconnects the separated communities by giving voices to the marginalized groups. Therefore, nonhuman characters such as the eagles and Ents are given the ability of languages, nature is portrayed as sentient and having its own will, and the oppression of women is voiced through the struggle of É owyn. At the end of the story, the marginalized groups reclaim their subjectivities and become co-actors in the quest of overthrowing the hierarchical power of Mordor and rebuilding the. 政治大 interconnection of the community 立 of the Middle-earth.. ‧ 國. 學. LotR also shows how the power of understanding and sharing is essential in. ‧. resisting hierarchical power. Vera L. Norwood defines two kinds of heroism when. io. sit. y. Nat. discussing the hero’s relationship with nature in literature. According to her, the. er. traditional hero’s journey is a tale of challenge and dominance of the environment.. al. n. iv n C The second kind of hero’s journey requires of Self into nature, “a tale h e n immersion gchi U. filled not with dominance but humility, that forfeits the individual voice so that nature can speak” (Norwood 344). In this sense, LotR exemplifies the second kind of heroism, with heroes and heroines fulfilling their quests not by conquering the Other but by understanding and recovering the Other’s voices. While Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey is mostly based on myths with male heroes, Maureen Murdock’s template of the Heroine’s Journey outlines a heroine’s. 25. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(37) spiritual journey from renouncing femininity and pursuing patriarchal values to reconcile with her femininity and embrace both sides of herself. Murdock suggests that the heroine identifies with the external masculine values because the driving force in a patriarchal society is power and control (Murdock 26-27). This notion echoes Norwood’s idea of the dominative mindset behind traditional heroism, which is embodied by Éowyn’s desire of seeking glory on the battlefield. However, in the last stage of the heroine’s journey, the heroine renounces the dualistic ideology of the. 政治大 masculine and feminine and 立 understands the importance of both sides. After. ‧ 國. 學. overcoming the crisis of losing self-identity, É owyn reconciles with her feminine side. ‧. and decides to “be a healer, and love all things that grow” (Tolkien, The Return of the. io. sit. y. Nat. King 965). Her decision does not suggest that she return to the “caged” situation.. er. Instead, it shows that she sees her femininity in a new light. Instead of seeing the. al. n. iv n C world hierarchically, she now recognizes connection of all beings. h e ntheginner chi U. In LotR, the key to renounce dualistic ideology and rebuild the connection of the community is through the power of understanding and recognizing the interrelatedness of self and all. This is demonstrated by the uniting of the eco-community of Middle-earth and by the free peoples’ recognition of the Self as part of the ecocommunity. Since radical individualism and the power of domination are represented by the One Ring, from the fall of Isengard and Mordor we can see in LotR radical. 26. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(38) individualism fails when it becomes over hierarchical and mutual responsibilities are neglected. On the other hand, the three rings signify the power of understanding: the key to reconnect the separated communities and to reconcile Self and Other dualism. Since communication plays a crucial role in the process of understanding the Other, the ability to understand others’ languages is often connected with the power of understanding in LotR. Characters that speak others’ languages such as Gandalf, Aragon, and Frodo, therefore, possess the power of understanding. Nevertheless, there. 政治大 are also some characters whose 立powers of understanding do not come from their. ‧ 國. 學. abilities of language. The Elves’ understanding of nature and animals, for example,. io. sit. y. Nat. words.. ‧. symbolizes the inner connection between man and nature which is able to transcend. er. In this way, the separation of the community is reconnected by the forfeiting of. al. n. iv n C radical individualism for the power of understanding and he n g c h i U the recognization of. interconnectivity. Aragon, for instance, is a “healer king” in the old prophecy who rules Gondor not with hierarchical domination like Denethor but with the ability of healing. Not only does he literally heal the wounded through his healing knowledge, but he also heals the isolation of Gondor through his ability to understand and unite different voices in the Middle-earth. Through the collaboration of the free peoples and. 27. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(39) nonhumans against Mordor, Tolkien’s story expresses a vision of the reconnection of the separated community through recognizing the inter-relatedness of Self and all. The power of domination and the power of preservation is a constant struggle in LotR. While the power of domination is represented by the One Ring, the power of preservation is represented by the Three Rings. The power of domination often resulted in obsessive desire and separation of the community. On the other hand, the desire to protect the things they love is what helps the Free Peoples to overcome their. 政治大 differences and understand the 立inner-connection between different species. Through. ‧ 國. 學. recognizing themselves as a collective whole, the power of preservation eventually. ‧. unites them together to resist the dominant power of Sauron in LotR.. io. sit. y. Nat. In a broader sense, Tolkien’s fantasy writing rebuilds the interconnectivity of the. er. separated community by recovering the voices that are marginalized in dominant. al. n. iv n C ideology. As he proposed in his essay, Stories,” the magic of Faerie is “the h e“Onn Fairy gchi U primordial human desire to hold communion with other living things” (Tolkien, Faerie 116). Through the creation of a world where nature expresses its own will and the communication between human and nonhuman are attainable, Tolkien’s legendarium and fantasy literature, in general, propose plural voices, therefore become a force of resistance to the dualistic ideology of Self and Other binarism which marginalizes and suppresses different voices.. 28. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(40) 1.5 Organization Aiming to propose that the separation of the community in LotR is related to the Self and Other dualism and the marginalization of different voices, this thesis will be divided into five chapters. In Chapter One, the general introduction of this thesis and the review of literature will be presented. Chapter Two will investigate radical individualism and the abuse of power in the context of LotR. In Chapter Three, the. 政治大 circumstances of the marginalized voices will be analyzed. Chapter Four will argue 立. ‧ 國. 學. that the separated community in LotR are reconnected through the recognition of. ‧. inter-relatedness of self and all. Chapter Five will be the conclusion of this thesis.. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 1.6 Conclusion. i Un. v. In this chapter, the connection between Tolkien’s life experience and his works. Ch. engchi. is introduced. After examining other critics’ research on Tolkien and LotR, we learned that the human obsession of power and the destruction of nature are the recurring themes in LotR. However, the correlation between the oppression and marginalization of women and natural creatures is often neglected. Therefore, this thesis will focus on the marginal voices in LotR such as natural creatures and women through an ecocritical lens. This thesis will also investigate how these marginal groups resist the oppression of dominant ideology and recover their voices and subjectivities in LotR.. 29. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(41) After we took a glimpse of the structure of this thesis in this chapter, the next chapter will focus on analyzing the rise of radical individualism in LotR and examining the force of the abusive power represented by the One Ring.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 30. i Un. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(42) Chapter Two. Radical Individualism and the Abuse of Power. 2.1 Introduction In this chapter, we will discuss the rise of radical individualism and its influence in The Lord of the Rings. We will take Lothlórien and Isengard as examples to analyze the change of the relationship within the eco-society of the Middle-earth to. 政治大 investigate the influence of radical individualism and the human obsession of 立. ‧ 國. 學. dominant power. The abusive power of the One Ring and its ability to tempt with. ‧. dominant desire is also a crucial topic of this chapter.. sit. y. Nat. The story of The Lord of the Rings is set in the third age of the Middle-earth, an. n. al. er. io. age of change in many different aspects. The third age saw the first defeat of Sauron. Ch. i Un. v. by the Last Alliance of Men and Elves and his regaining of power in Mordor. This age. engchi. is characterized by the rise of the power of Mordor and Isengard and the change that they brought to the Middle-earth. Mordor and Isengard are marked by their geological isolation and their exploitive relationship with nature, while other places such as the Shire and Lothlórien share a symbiotic relationship with nature. George R. R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire famously stated that “in contemporary fantasy, the setting becomes a character in its own right” (Martin 3). In LotR, places are certainly. 31. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(43) important characters in the whole story since places are inseparable from the culture of its inhabitants. Moreover, the appearances and characteristics of places often reflect the state of mind of its inhabitants in LotR. For instance, Isengard is shaped by its stone walls and prison-like isolation and Mordor is also depicted as a land of shadow which is unsuitable for living things. On the other hand, Lothlórien and the Shire are depicted as places full of energy and life flourished.. 政治大 2.2 Symbiotic Relationships with Nature: Lothlórien and the Shire 立. ‧ 國. 學. In LotR, places such as Lothlórien and Isengard represent different attitudes of. ‧. engagement with nature. Places like these create spaces that present the symbiotic and. sit. y. Nat. exploitive relationships that are embodied in our relationship with nature. The places. n. al. er. io. where the Elves live, Lothlórien, for example, embodies a perfect co-existing state. Ch. i Un. v. between nature and its inhabitants. However, Lothlórien, like the Elves, is fading.. engchi. In the Third Age of the Middle-earth, the presence of Elves is fading and the influence of Men is becoming more powerful than before. By the end of the Third Age, most Elves departed for Valinor and the Fourth Age is said to be the Age of Men. The fading of the Elves is important when discussing the relationship between nature and its inhabitants in the Middle-earth since the Elves have deep connections with nature. Although Elf is a species that is different from Men, they can also be. 32. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(44) interpreted as representing another aspect of human nature that is lost in the modern age. According to Tolkien, Elves and Men are just different aspects of the Humane: In this mythological world the Elves and Men are in their incarnate forms kindred, but in the relation of their 'spirits' to the world in time represent different 'experiments', each of which has its own natural trend, and weakness. The Elves represent, as it were, the artistic, aesthetic, and purely scientific aspects of the Humane nature raised to a higher level than is actually seen in Men. That is: they. 政治大 have a devoted love of the 立physical world, and a desire to observe and. ‧ 國. 學. understand it for its own sake […] not as a material for use or as a power-. ‧. platform. (Tolkien, Letters 252). Nat. io. sit. y. The Elves, therefore, represent the genuine understanding of nature, a love of nature. er. for its intrinsic worth and not for its utility. Their appreciation of nature also allows. al. n. iv n C them to maintain a symbiotic relationship nature. In Lothlórien, the city of the h e nwith gchi U Elves is built within the forest, and the Elves are accustomed to walk and sleep on trees, even their houses are built on trees. Sam describes the intimate relationship. between the Elves and their land in Lothlórien: “they seem to belong here, more even than Hobbits do in the Shire. Whether they’ve made the land, or the land’s made them, it’s hard to say” (Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 360). The Elves’ relationship with the land is symbiotic in that their way of living is inseparable from. 33. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(45) the land, and the coexisting state between the Elves and the land is mutually beneficial as the land is also protected by the Elves. Lothlórien is under the protection of Galadriel’s ring, Nenya, which possesses the power of preservation and protection. The Elves’ desire to preserve what they loved is shown in the unchanged season in Lothlórien. Under the power of Galadriel’s ring, the leaves of the mallorn trees are ever gold and the season is always spring in the Lothlórien. Elves are also capable of communicating with animals and even listen to the. 政治大 whispers of the trees. Treebeard 立 tells Merry and Pippin how the Elves taught the trees. ‧ 國. 學. to speak because of the Elves’ desire of communication with everything: “Elves. ‧. begun it, of course, waking trees up and teaching them to speak and learning their. io. sit. y. Nat. tree-talk. They always wished to talk to everything” (Tolkien, The Two Towers 468).. er. In his famous essay, On Fairy Stories, Tolkien points out that this desire of. al. n. iv n C communication and connection withhother creatures is U e n g c h i rooted in our sense of. separation with other living things, and fairy stories offer to amend this sense of separation: “…fairy-stories offer a sort of escape, and old ambitions and desires (touching the very roots of fantasy) to which they offer a kind of satisfaction and consolation. […] There are profounder wishes: such as the desire to converse with other living things. On this desire, as ancient as the Fall, is largely founded. 34. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(46) the talking of beasts and creatures in fairy-tales, and especially the magical understanding of their proper speech.” (Tolkien, On Fairy Stories 22) The talking beasts such as the eagles and the dragon play important parts in LotR, and the “magical understanding” of other creatures’ speech is a prominent specialty of the Elves. Fangorn Forest, the land that the Elves “woke up” represents the ideal symbiotic and interconnected relationship with nature, a state which is before the separation of Self and the environment. The Elves’ devoted love and deep connection. 政治大 with nature; however, is also立 becoming a memory of the Middle-earth as the Elves’. ‧ 國. 學. presence gradually fades away from the Middle-earth. In some way, the Age of the. ‧. Elves embodies the ideal state that is lost and becomes mythological during the. Nat. io. sit. y. development of human history.. er. Another place that embodies the symbiotic relationship with nature is the. al. n. iv n C Hobbits’ hometown, the Shire. The Hobbits h e n glivecahquiet i Uand peaceful life in the rural village. The social structure of the Hobbits in the Shire is the representation of the agricultural society before industrialization: They love peace and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and wellfarmed countryside was their favorite haunt. They do not and did not understand or like machines more complicated than a forge-bellows, a water-. 35. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(47) mill, or a hand-loom, though they were skillful with tools. (Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 1) The living style of the Hobbits is similar to the rural life of England, which the author experienced in his childhood. The Hobbits live in hobbit-holes, and their lives are mainly about farming, doing simple trades, and enjoying foods and pipe-weeds. Since the Shire is a farming community, farmers are often regarded with high respect in the Shire. Farmer Maggot, for example, is highly respected in the Shire. Even Tom. 政治大 Bombadil, one the most mysterious 立 and powerful characters in LotR, thinks highly of. ‧ 國. 學. him:. ‧. He made no secret that he owed his recent knowledge largely to Farmer. Nat. io. sit. y. Maggot, whom he seemed to regard as a person of more importance than they. er. [the Hobbits] had imagined. “There's earth under his old feet, and clay on his. al. n. iv n C fingers; wisdom in his bones,hand both eyes areU e n g c h i open” said Tom. (Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 132) If the Elves are connected to trees and forests, the Hobbits’ are marked by their close attachment to the earth. Farmer Maggot and the farming society of the Shire express an attitude of respect and gratitude for the land that nurtures them. Sam, being a gardener, also often expresses his love and care for nature. When the four hobbits recovered the Shire from the control of Saruman, it is Sam who replants the trees of. 36. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(48) the Shire through the gift from Galadriel, and he won the honored family name “Gardener” for doing this. In short, the Shire is a place that embodies an agricultural society that shares the genuine understanding and care of the land.. 2.3 Exploitive Relationship with Nature: Industrialization in LotR Compare with the idealized co-existing state of the Elves and the undying. 政治大. forest, the Hobbits’ agricultural society is a direct mirror of the relationship between. 立. human and nature before the change brought by industrialization. However, even the. ‧ 國. 學. Shire is forced to be industrialized under the control of Saruman in the later part of the. ‧. story. After the War of the Ring, the Hobbits went back to the Shire and found that it. y. Nat. ugly factories and environmental pollutions:. n. al. Ch. engchi. er. io. sit. has completely changed. The beautiful rural scenery is gone and being replaced by. i Un. v. Many of the houses that they had known were missing. Some seemed to have been burned down. The pleasant row of old hobbit-holes in the bank on the north side of the Pool were deserted, and their little gardens that used to run down bright to the water’s edge were rank with weeds. […] An avenue of trees had stood there. They were all gone. And looking with dismay up the road towards Bag End they saw a tall chimney of brick in the distance. It was. 37. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(49) pouring out black smoke into the evening air. (Tolkien, The Return of the King 1004) The portrayal of the destructive impact on ecology brought by industrialization is apparent. Later in the same chapter, the imagery of industrial destruction on the environment is again emphasized when the Hobbits are saddened by the felled trees and the pollution of the river in the Shire. However, the ecological destruction is only part of the Shire’s misery. Apart. 政治大 from the environmental destruction, 立 the Shire has also become a police state under the. ‧ 國. 學. control of Saruman. The men of Saruman monopolize the goods of the Shire and. ‧. made the Shire into a totalitarian society. Hobbits who protest against the unjust. Nat. io. sit. y. distribution are all put into jail. In many ways, the enslavement of nature and people. er. is related. In LotR, the exploitation of nature often parallels the racial and class. al. n. iv n C exploitations. Just as the men of Saruman down trees in the Shire, the hobbits in h e nfelled gchi U the Shire also become objects of control for Saruman. Yet the Shire is only an epitome of the exploitive power of Sauron and Saruman. It is not difficult to notice that the depiction of Mordor and Isengard are direct references to the destructive effects brought by industrialization. Compared with the symbiotic way of living with nature in the Shire and Lothlórien, the relationship between nature and the people in Isengard and Mordor is more. 38. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(50) hierarchical and exploitive. While people in the Shire and Lothlórien also make use of natural resources, their attitude towards nature is significantly different from Isengard and Mordor. For the Hobbits and the Elves, their land is a place that nourished them and also where they belong to and identified with. However, for Saruman and Sauron, nature merely exists as a resource for them to extract. In this mindset, nature is objectified and becomes an object of exploitation. Treebeard talks about the deteriorating. 政治大 relationship between the land立 and its inhabitants when relating the story of the Ents. ‧ 國. 學. and the Entwives to Merry and Pippin:. ‧. Birds used to flock there. I like birds, even when they chatter; and the rowan. Nat. io. sit. y. has enough and to spare. But the birds became unfriendly and greedy and tore. er. at the trees, and threw the fruit down and did not eat it. Then Orcs came with. al. n. iv n C axes and cut down my trees. h […] It is the orc-work, e n g c h i U the wanton hewing –. ra´rum–without even the bad excuse of feeding the fires. (Tolkien, The Two Towers 483-485) The greed and wastefulness are the maladies of modern society and the tree-felling of the orcs is a direct reflection of the ecological disaster during the industrial revolution. The Industrial Revolution signifies a turning point in our relationship with nature. Instead of trying to coexist with nature, we now view nature as something. 39. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(51) separated from us, a passive “environment” for us to conquer and exploit. It is after industrialization that we start to separate ourselves from nature. While the Shire and Lothlórien are surrounded by nature, Isengard and Mordor are geologically isolated and lifeless. Orthanc, the tower of Isengard, is enclosed by “a great ring-wall of stone, like towering cliffs, stood out from the shelter of the mountain-side” (Tolkien, The Two Towers 554). The ring-wall of Isengard makes Orthanc well protected but also isolated from the outside world. In the early days, Isengard was a fertile land “filled. 政治大 with avenues, and groves of 立 fruitful trees, watered by streams that flowed from the. ‧ 國. 學. mountains to a lake” (Tolkien, The Two Towers 554). However, under Saruman’s rule,. ‧. Isengard went through a great change:. io. sit. y. Nat. …no green thing grew there in the latter days of Saruman. The roads were paved. er. with stone-flags, dark and hard; and beside their borders instead of trees there. al. n. iv n C marched long lines of pillars, some some of copper and of iron, joined h eofnmarble, gchi U by heavy chains. (Tolkien, The Two Towers 554) After Saruman made Isengard his stronghold, Orthanc stands alone as an inapproachable tower and Isengard becomes a furnace of machinery power, an armory of metal and steel. In some way, the change of Isengard symbolizes the change of the relationship between human society and the natural environment. Treebeard also relates the change of Saruman’s attitude towards nature:. 40. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.

(52) I used to talk to him. There was a time when he was always walking about my woods. He was polite in those days, always asking my leave ... and always eager to listen. I told him many things that he would never have found out by himself; but he never repaid me in like kind. I cannot remember that he ever told me anything. And he got more and more like that; his face ... became like windows in a stone wall: windows with shutters inside. […] I think that I now understand what he is up to. He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and. for the moment. (Tolkien, The Two Towers 473). 學. ‧ 國. 政治大 wheels; and he does not立 care for growing things, except as far as they serve him ‧. Saruman’s attitude towards the Fangorn Forest reflects how the relationship between. Nat. io. sit. y. nature and human change from the agricultural society to the industrial society. After. er. industrialization, human society becomes obsessed with acquiring power and material. al. n. iv n C resources, and nature is gradually separated our daily lives and exists merely as h e n gfrom chi U a resource for us to utilize. In Deep Ecology, David Devall and George Sessions point out the correlation between how a society treats its people and how it interacts with nature: It is surely no coincidence that humans would also come to be looked upon as a resource to be managed in the best interests of the emerging urban-industrial society. The shift from "people" to "personnel" (and "consumers") to which. 41. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202001098.