Saving Grace in JRRT (was Re: JKR, JRRT, & JC)

[naamagatus]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "A. Vulgarweed" <fluxed at e...> 
wrote:
> Amy Z:
> >You can certainly see a Christian allegory in LOTR, as in most 
tales
> >of redemptive sacrifice.  But it isn't at all simple.  Especially
> >difficult is the fact that that slimesucker Gollum seems to be the
> >sacrificial lamb, while Frodo the Good goes over to the demonic at
> >the crucial moment.
> 
> I'm amazed more people haven't brought this moment up. Fear of 
spoilers for
> the movie-goers? Because that is THE defining moment of LOTR for 
me, the
> point at which all illusion of comforting allegory is out the 
window and
> the reader is slapped in the face with the potential for corruption 
that we
> ALL have, and hard! 

But why is that slapping the reader in the face? Aren't humans, 
according to basic Christian dogma, inherently corrupted beings? It 
seems to me that an earnest Christian should be delighted with such a 
message!


>It's crushing, and for those expecting a
> straightforward fantasy-epic denouement, it is deeply shocking. For 
all the
> Orc-slaughter that's been cheered so much throughout, the world is 
saved
> ONLY because, waayyyyy back in the story, Frodo had been persuaded 
(against
> his impulses) to show mercy to a despicable/pathetic treacherous 
little
> creature who almost got them killed for it. That is the moment of 
Tolkien's
> treacherous genius as well.
> 

You know, both you and Amy surprise me. I've always seen LOTR's 
ending as the supreme expression of JRRT's Christian theology. This 
is how I see it: Frodo "going over to the demonic" expresses the very 
Christian idea of man's fall. If Frodo had overcome the ring, he (who 
represents man) would have saved the world and himself without divine 
intervention. What saved Frodo wasn't his own strength (which, as 
merely human is inherently insufficient), but the compassion that he 
has shown Gollum. Frodo had saved and protected Gollum more than once 
(and that it was against his impulses is precisely what makes it 
great) as far as I recall. And not only he - Gollum stays alive 
because Bilbo, Gandalf, Frodo, Faramir, and, finally - Sam, all 
showed him pity and compassion. Isn't that what grace is? The world 
was saved by divine grace (as expressed in Gollum's accidental fall), 
which parallels the many acts of grace by which Gollum was premitted 
to live in the first place, although he didn't deserve it. Isn't the 
whole point of grace that it is undeserved?


Naama