Battle of Good over Evil - Literature review Example

Tolkien and Lewis: The Battle of Good over Evil Sometime in the year 1926, two friends, both Oxford academics and members of an informal group called the Inklings spent many hours by the fireside discussing their ideas and concepts regarding many aspects of life. The two friends shared a fascination with myth and fairy tales that they heard as boys. At each other’s encouragement, each began to write some of these ideas down in novel form. Although the two of them told the story according to his personal convictions, each of them has tremendous influence over each others work. In the end, these two men produced two of the most well-known and well-loved adventures of all times. In The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia series, both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis created a world where good and evil clashed. The flow of the stories draws a great deal of parallelism in Christian faith. In both stories, we witness how evil corrupts good men and women and how temptation can cloud the mind and wreck havoc on the soul. Perhaps the most logical explanation why these great writers wrote the stories the way they are is because of their strong Christian influences. Born in Africa in 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was introduced to Catholicism by his mother, who converted when he was 8 years old but then died only four short years later (de Koster, 2000). He remained close to the church throughout his life and this Catholic influence is perhaps one reason for his emphasis on the concept of original sin and the fall of man within his trilogy. In The Lord of The Rings, the story was centered on the idea that a ring was a source of evil. In the Christian bible, the story of the ring can be considered as an analogy of the apple in the Garden of Eden. All throughout the story of the Lord of the Rings, the recurring theme of temptation and corruption versus natural source of good was present. The Hobbits to resist pull of the One Ring better than the humans presumably because the humans had already fallen out of the Garden of Eden and therefore have already demonstrated a greater susceptibility to evil. As evidence of this claim that humans are more susceptible to corruption of the senses, Boromir was easily seduced by the ring as compared to Frodo. However, since the Hobbits remain connected in some distant way with humans and are susceptible to the ring if exposed to it for long periods of time, which can be seen in both the Gollum and in Frodo Baggins (Tolkien, 1991). The character of Fodo represents a great conflict between good and evil. The temptation to use the ring for his personal glory was so great at times that even Frodo whose character is basically good, at times find it hard to resist the pull of the ring. Although in the case of Frodo, good triumph, the character of Lord Sauron displayed a greater susceptibility to corruption of the mind and the spirit. Lord Sauron became the wizard Saruman, who had once headed the good wizard’s council turned evil because of his desire for power. Quoting Gandalf, “’Nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so,’ which suggests that he [Sauron] is, like Satan, a fallen being of great power” (Purtill, 2000: 87). Like Satan in the bible who wanted to have more powers, Sauron was consumed by greed but in the end, his greed proved to be his undoing. Unlike Tolkien, Lewis, born in 1898, grew up in an Anglican household, being taught to pray at an early age and resorting to prayer when his mother lay dying when he was just 10 years old (Jacobs, 2005). However, his intellectual pursuits exposed him to new ideas that called his beliefs into question, “Freed from the burdens of prayer, by the time he left Malvern Jack had ceased to be a Christian” (Jacobs, 2005: 40). Although cracks in his atheism appeared sporadically prior to his relationship with Tolkien, it wasn’t until he began talking with Tolkien on a regular basis that Lewis began his conversion back to Christianity (Duriez, 2003). It is perhaps because of this later conversion and difficult acceptance of the teachings of the Bible that Lewis’ reference to the Biblical stories are so much more obvious than those of Tolkien. He also put more emphasis on the divine origin of man and the conflict between good and evil within and outside of the mind of a person. The close association between the schemes of the bible and that of Narnia started in the presence of Digory and Polly at the very creation of Narnia, much like Adam and Eve appearing in the Garden of Eden and is reinforced through the continual reference to man as either a son of Adam or a daughter of Eve. Mankind is given dominance over the animals despite the fact that the animals are also given the power of speech and the power of thought and awareness. Throughout the series, it is seen that it is only when a son of Adam rules over Narnia that the land is able to live in peace. While this becomes contentious in The Horse and his Boy and Uncle Miraz, also human, rules Narnia to great disaster, it is later revealed that this is because he is a servant of Tash rather than of Aslan. Despite their different emphasis, each author includes a great deal of reference to the internal conflicts that human beings experience. The war between good and evil rages through these stories not only in the physical battle fields, where the fighters wielded swords, bows and arrows and magical powers but also in the minds of the characters themselves. Almost every character in Tolkien’s mythology faces a test of character at some point, forcing them to individually defeat evil on their own terms and through their own understandings. Frodo Baggins’ journey outlines the most obvious internal fight between good and evil. He struggles with the temptation of giving in to the ring despite his knowledge of what it would do to him. In many ways, he can be equated to a pariah figure as well. “From the beginning, he accepts the burden of the Ring purely for the sake of others. It is no mere adventure that sends Frodo riding out of the Shire, but a willingness to suffer so that others may be saved” (Purtill, 2000: 89). Even characters as highly enlightened and wise as the Elves are seen to be tested, as when Frodo meets Galadriel. He offers her the ring and a great battle can be seen to be occurring within her. The great power she might wield is illustrated, “And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!” (Tolkien, 1991: 473). Yet a moment later she drops her hands and is content to fade and disappear in the west, remaining simply and only herself. Here we witness how temptation tends to corrupt he mind and how one can eventually conquer temptation. Again we can connect this scene with the temptation of Jesus when Satan offered him the world. However, line Galadriel, Jesus resisted the temptation. Another very obvious theme that can be linked to the triumph of good over evil is redemption. In Tolkiens book, Gollum who remembers his life more as Smeagol, started his journey towards redemption by serving Frodo. His struggle to get back into the path of righteousness was laced with many incidents of despair and frustrations. Depending on how you see things, one can either conclude that he bit the finger of Frodo in order for the ring to fall into the molten lava as a final act of destroying something that has brought him a lot of evil or that he did so because he wanted to take the ring for himself. In Narnia on the other hand, the journey towards self redemption is very much noticeable in the case of Eustace in The Dawn Treader. Like Smeagol, Eustace has committed something bad that he was turned into a dragon. “Eustace is turned into a dragon because of his irresponsibility, childishness and selfishness. In the form of this ugly beast he learns to value his friends and to help others” (Lindskoog, 1979: 73). The triumph of Eustace over evil is more pronounced than that of Smeagol. Eustace eventually became normal again after he submitted himself to the rule of Aslan. In the broader perspective of the story, the idea of redemption is perhaps most evident in the figure of Gandalf the wizard. It is this figure who originates the first adventure in The Hobbit when he convinces Bilbo Baggins to set out on his adventure with the dwarfs, indicating a sense of foreknowledge into the events to come: “I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you. If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar he is, or will be when the time comes. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself” (Tolkien, 1980: 19). In the fight against evil, the character of Gandalf is seen as a source of guidance and inspiration. He became the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring, leading his companions through the dangerous dark places until he finally comes face to face with the Balrog of Moria and falls with it into a deep chasm. Here we can observe the analogy between the death of Jesus and the death of Gandalf. Both died trying to save humankind from evil and both were resurrected to bring the good news that good can triumph over evil. When Gandalf returned in The Two Towers, he is no longer Gandalf the Gray as he had been, but is now Galdalf the White, appearing to have omnipresent knowledge as to what the three friends – Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli – are doing and whom they are seeking. “For the Christian, this is akin to their Patriarch Jesus Christ, who after suffering on the cross, died and was resurrected. In the Bible, Jesus’ return is not filled with the glowing and light that Gandalf had shining about him, though the similarity lies with him not being recognized” (Burdge, 2006). In the Chronicles of Narnia, the idea of redemption can be observed in the act of Aslan of sacrificing himself in order to save Edmund. This schene is obviously and intentionally reminiscent of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Like Jesus, Aslan is sent to die for someone else’s crime, yet he goes to his death willingly as well as fearfully. “But how slowly he walked! And his great, royal head drooped so that his nose nearly touched the grass. Presently he stumbled and gave a low moan” (Lewis, 2005: 147). Although he is not forced to wear a crown of thorns, his mane is shorn away from his head in a similar attempt to mock and demystify the individual godhead and all four of his feet are injured as he is pushed and shoved into his death position. Like Jesus, Aslan is watched over by women who love him throughout the night of his death, cleaning his body and setting it as right as they can. As dawn breaks, the sacrificial table in Narnia breaks at the moment of Aslan’s resurrection in a motion just as shocking as the movement of the stone in front of Jesus’ tomb. The stories of The Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia convey some powerful messages regarding the battle of good over evil in our lives and how the good triumphs at the end. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis presented a diverse ideas and approach to their stories but once can most certainly observe that both based the outcome of their stories in the Christian teachings. In the case of Narnia, the message here is that even if someone has been born good, circumstances may drive him or her to commit something evil and while this person struggles between what is good and what is evil, he or she will eventually find it within him or her to do what is right and thus defeat evil. On the other hand, the Lord of the Rings tells us that no matter what evil lies inside your heart or in your path, as long as you seek the path of salvation, you will eventually find your way to the path of righteousness. Read More