Hello, everyone!
I currently feel like if this was LOTR, we would be at the part where the fellowship breaks up and everything goes downhill. I feel like COVID-19 has escalated so quickly and it can be scary when at first it was only going to be a week, then two, and now it could continue into 2021.
I think it's important to keep focusing on Tolkien's messages of hope, and friendship, and kindness though in this time. While we may not be able to see each other in person, we can still be here for each other and still reach out. No matter how grim it may look, we should still be hopeful that all of us will make it out on the other side stronger and more resilient than ever before. But most of all, even we meet Gollums of toilet paper we must be patient and resist losing our cool. Not harassing someone who coughs or sniffles. Wishing essential workers luck during this time, not hoarding cleaning supplies, and staying home to protect the immunocompromised and other vulnerable populations. I don't know about the rest of you, but staying at home and not going out (especially in such nice weather!) is incredibly difficult. It feels impossible. But I know we'll all get through fine!
I do wonder what Tolkien would write based off of this though. I imagine it could be a sickness sweeping through the land still, but possibly with a cure at least adjacent to people limiting contact. Perhaps a healer who eventually finds a magical cure through a difficult journey or quest, and then slowly the land and people heal as it slowly becomes a scar of the past? Or maybe a man thrown into the quest and has to take down the source of the disease, and finds a cure and slowly goes around the kingdom offering the cure to those affected? And more people join and help them? I know it would certainly have loss, devastation, catastrophe, and possibly even a romantic subplot but I do wonder what the actual focus of the story inspired by COVID-19. Speaking of, I'm surprised Tolkien never wrote anything (seemingly) based off the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic.
That's all for now,
Elendil
Your post reminded me of my favorite quote from The Lord of the Rings, the one where Frodo says "'I wish it need not have happened in my time . . . 'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." (Book 1, chapter 2)
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking alot about this quote recently and I pull great strength from it. Here Gandalf is saying that even if we don't have control over our current situation we can have control over how we react to it.
In every age there is a dramatic problem that humans have to face, from the Spanish Flu to world wars, but every time humanity bands together to find a solution and provide help and comfort to eachtother. I have heard of people making homemade masks for doctors and nurses so they can reuse them, people have made signs for health care providers thanking them for their service and sacrafice. I think these people are doing exactly what Gandalf suggested we do in times of trial, they are making the best of it and using their time to uplift and serve others.
I absolutely love how books, like Tolkien's, provide us with wisdom from a completely different age that is still relevant in our day.
You're definitely right about focusing on Tolkien's positive messages of hope and fellowship! The quote that Celeborn mentioned in their comment is an excellent idea to think about as we continue to try and live, or even just survive, during these trying times. For me personally, I find inspiration in Frodo's will to keep going to complete his task and not fall into despair. But it's important to remember that Frodo was able to keep going because of his friendship with Sam and his thoughts of his other friends in the Fellowship and the peace of the Shire. Although I find my own life monotonous yet chaotic currently, it's nice to know that I have friends to talk to and think about to keep me going.
ReplyDeleteRe: Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." This is the quote I have on my Facebook profile. I try to remember it always, though times like these I appreciate being reminded! Your thoughts on the blog are helping my sanity as much as anything else.
ReplyDeleteI like how you really tied in this weird time In History to LOTR. It could be seen in many ways throughout books, but the way I see it is a mass sweep of illness, and Gandalf going out to search for it, or maybe pulling a Tolkien, and sending someone less significant out for it. This being a long journey (since finding a vax can take up to the rest of the year) and finding out clues and going through some rough patches, maybe even one of the characters on the journey getting it, and having to sit out for two weeks. This type of virus is unlike any other we've seen in a while, since it is hitting really close to home and there is no cure as of right now, so a Global Pandemic is something none of ourselves, nor our parents have seen. This can get tricky, but will make some good writing in the end.
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