Responsibility for failure and success in leaders.

On Thursday we debated whether Frodo failed or succeeded. The second most important question of the debate, after the definition of Frodo's quest, was to what extent and under what circumstances does a leader take responsibility for the success or failure of his group.

I want to think about this objectively and come up with a set of rules.

First, extreme cases, because they are easy. If the group fails and the leader's orders were followed, the leader takes responsibility for the failure. If the group succeeds and the leader's orders were followed, then the leader can take credit for the success.

Now there is somewhat more variance in the middle cases, because I think there is an additional variable to be considered when the leader's orders are not followed, which is what often creates these more grey situations. That is, the extent to which the leader's orders are considered to be absolute. For instance, a king ordering a servant should expect to be followed to the letter, however often a king ordering a general has the expectation of a certain amount of freedom in the general's actions, because the general is considered to be a responsible person, who can change the plan based on changing situations. I will call this variable order flexibility.

So now there are five middle cases to consider.

Group fails, leader's orders not followed, low to no order flexibility. The leader can blame his subordinates who failed to do what they were told for the failure, and need not take responsibility himself, although a good leader may still take responsibility for choosing people who were not up to the task.

Group fails, leader's orders followed, high order flexibility. In this case one of two things can happen, either the leader can blame his subordinate for not exercising his power to change orders based on his observations, or the leader can take the blame for issuing a bad plan in the first place.

Group fails, leader's orders not followed, high order flexibility. in this case the responsibility is almost entirely on the subordinate who changed the plan and then failed.

Group succeeds, leader's orders not followed, low to no order flexibility. In this case the credit for success belongs entirely to the subordinate/s who defied orders to succeed. a good leader will reward these people for their success and good decision making, while a poor leader will likely punish people for defying orders even when they succeeded.

Group succeeds, leader's orders not followed, high order flexibility. The leader can take a certain amount of credit for correctly giving responsibility to someone who deserved it, but most of the credit should go to the subordinate.

I'm not really sure which of these cases corresponds to Frodo's situation, but it was interesting to think about.

Debate on Frodo's Success

I really enjoyed our debate in class last week, as it seemed most of us did.  I had a lot to think about after the debate, and I think that both sides made a lot of good points.  It occurred to me that Frodo did not succeed in the sense that he did not exactly follow what he planned to do as he set out from Rivendell, but he did ultimately succeed in contributing to the destruction of the Ring.  Gollum took the Ring forcefully from him, and he did claim it as his own, but sometimes things do not turn out the way we plan.  Take for example, the debacle with Caradhras as the Fellowship attempts to cross the Misty Mountains.  Eventually, they are forced to change their specific actions, but this does not mean that the quest has ended.  They find another way around.  I do argue that Frodo himself did not succeed, but that the quest succeeded overall.  With Sam's service and Gollum's "help" it would not have gone so well.  Perhaps this comes full circle to the theme of friendship and the emphasis on not doing difficult things alone, but rather relying on the friendship and loyalty of others.

The Return of the King, Bk V, Chs 6-10, Hope and Despair

In our discussion this week, we talked about how hope and despair go hand in hand. How you cannot have one without the other. That they exist together implicitly. Tolkien does a great job of demonstrating this, time and time again, throughout these chapters. He doesn’t drag his reader down into hopelessness, but he doesn’t raise their expectations either. He keeps a fine balance between the two in order to create a more realistic and riveting read. I really enjoyed looking at all the examples of this.  

One particular example I thought was very interesting was how he showed Eomer, as the newly crowned King of the Mark, lose all hope at the sight of the sails of the ships on the Anduin and yet in that very same moment, he summons the courage to fight to the end, no matter what, despite believing all is lost. I found this intriguing because it is a demonstration of almost foolhardy hope as even though Eomer believes they’re about to be utterly defeated, he’s going to push on anyway. It’s like, there’s no hope, no point, but I’m going to die trying, mentality, which I found really fascinating. Of course, the real hope from the despair comes from when we learn that it’s Aragorn and his company on those boats rather than back up for Mordor’s troops. 

Another scene of this mesh of hope and despair that really caught my attention was the scene between Legolas and Gimli, where Galadriel’s warning to Legolas comes to fruition. Legolas sees the sea and yearns for it endlessly. This in itself holds both hope and despair because Legolas desperately longs for this and yet it means he’ll have to leave Middle-earth to pursue this yearning. Gimli then reminds Legolas that there’s still much for him to enjoy in Middle-earth and this again combines the two. It’s hopeful as it provides a reason for Legolas to stay but despair as it’s a precursor to an implied farewell once this has been fulfilled.  

I really enjoyed looking deeper into each one of these scenes that are filled with both hope and despair and hearing everyone’s interpretation of them. My favorite scene of hope and despair actually comes from book six, where Eowyn is despairing as they’ve had no news about how things have gone at the black gate, and Faramir brings hope by confessing he doesn’t want the world to end as he just found her. It was very sweet, and I thought Tolkien did an amazing job of delivering that scene so it had the perfect amount of romance in it.  

Freewrite on Hope in the Houses of Healing

The scene that I chose is in Chapter 8 of Book 5 in The Return of the King when Aragorn comes into the Houses of Healing to heal the three warriors who fell during the Battle of Pelennor Fields: Faramir, Eowyn, and Merry. I particularly want to focus on the scene when Aragorn heals Faramir and calls him back to the world of the living and out of the darkness. This scene is filled with hope as it is the first instance in the sequence of scenes in the Houses of the Healing when Aragorn exemplifies not only his knowledge of healing remedies but also his deep care and love for others as the future King. I saw someone post recently about this scene and of how Aragorn not only healed their external maladies, in Faramir’s case his fever, but he also had the power to heal their internal suffering and grief. Faramir does not stir as his mind wanders in the dark world of “weariness, grief for his father’s mood, a wound, and over all the Black Breath” (864) and if not for the kingsfoil, the athleas, and Aragorn’s healing hands, he would’ve died, falling under the spell of despair and suffering induced by the evil of the Black Breath. However, as the helpers in the Houses of Healing display their hope in the athleas healing Faramir and Aragorn calls him back to the light, Faramir awakens, immediately showing love for his king, even though he doesn’t even know him. I think this chapter is one of my favorites in the whole series because it shows how hope can heal and to hope is to have the courage to keep on living. 

Later, when Aragorn heals Éowyn, she is more filled with despair, as she has lost her father-figure King Théoden and did not die beside him in battle, as she had wanted to. Her healing takes longer as she has to take more time to gain more hope for living. When characters fall into despair, they often lose the strength to go on. If Frodo and Sam had lost hope entirely, they never would have completed their journey because they would not have the strength to keep going. 

Tolkien seems to want the reader to know that in the face of such immense and all-powerful evil, having hope is extremely necessary to go on, to keep living. Going back to the Houses of Healing, this chapter/scene exemplifies the hope that is found through wanting others to live and healing those who have suffered.

How Much Does Authorial Intent Matter?

In the wrap-up after our debate on Thursday, Dr. Donovan brought up an interesting idea. When a couple people mentioned that there were letters from J.R.R. Tolkien which could have been used by either side to support their argument, Dr. Donovan mentioned that, had either team used that letter, the other team could have made the rebuttal that what the author intended isn’t necessarily as important as what is actually shown in the books. (Don't get me wrong, Tolkien's intent is still important to consider and study, but there is an interesting argument here).

I just wanted to bring this up and possibly get some of your opinions on it!

The biggest argument I can see about this is that perhaps the author’s intent during writing is more important than their intent after writing – see all of J.K. Rowling’s tweets after the HP books were completed – but most important is still what was actually written. A student writing an essay can say “well, I intended to show X,” even if their reader (teacher, peers, etc.) doesn’t see that at all – the student’s intent in this situation matters a little but doesn’t change what they actually wrote.

Tolkien could have intended to portray Frodo as failing or succeeding in his quest, but the important distinction is whether Tolkien himself succeeded in portraying what he intended. However, I don’t intend to bring that debate up again! What I do intend to do, is ask you whether you think considering authorial intent is important when reading a book. Are the curtains blue because the author intended x y or z? Or, are we SHOWN in the author’s written words that the color is actually important, or just a minor detail?

How much, really, does the intent of the author matter in how readers understand their works?

Hope and Dispair in Book VI

In class on Tuesday, we talked a lot about the combination of hope and despair that are definitely amplified at the end of book five.  Its interesting to see how this is also carried over into book six even though the narrative switches back to Sam and Frodo.

Every time I have read The Tower or Cirith Ungol, I an always overwhelmed by how much happens in this chapter, and how much it affects the rest of the story.  Looking at it from the perspective  of hope and despair, this is an especially heavy chapter.

This is the first time we really see Sam feeling the pull of the ring, and contemplate the suffering it would cause him to become its bearer in place of Frodo.  This is of course a dangerous choice to have to make, especially seeing the change in Frodo.  But, it turns out that "in that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden"(901).   So love as well as the simplicity and thoughtfulness of a hobbit prevail over the influence of the ring for Sam.   This is definitely a welcome glimmer of hope.

Even so, though we also find some hope in the fact that Sam does find Frodo alive at the end of the chapter, there is also some despair that the reader cannot ignore.  Frodo is found stripped naked and in a pile of rags, and although he is happy to see Sam, when he finds out that Sam has the ring:"quickly and strangely his tone changed.  'Give it to me!' he cried, standing up, holding out a trembling hand. 'Give it to me at once! You can't have it!'"(911).  To have Frodo seen here in rags, speaking in a strange voice and demanding the ring as if Sam was a thief is not a far cry from what we have seen of Gollum.  This is a shocking change to see, and confirms the readers fears for Frodo.

Once again, Tolkien includes some feeling of hope, but not enough to make the reader feel like this is going to be a story with a happy ending, because there is enough despair to keep us aware of the impeding doom ahead.  By seeing Sam and Frodo in a similar light to the rest of  the characters we left off with in book five, Tolkien is able to properly communicate the extent of Sauron's growing evil influence over Middle Earth.

 

The Census and Middle Earth: Population in Fantasy

        In honor of the 2020 Census, this post will be based on a random question that came to my mind a few days ago: just what is the actual population of Middle Earth? Sure, there seems to be a lot of vacant land on the continent, but the sheer size of some kingdoms like Gondor and the armies they can field seem to suggest at least a population equivalent perhaps to France... what was the estimated population of France in 1500 anyway?

Ah, well then.... Could Middle Earth really sport such a high population for its kingdoms? With this initial number of comparison and question in mind, I turned to good old Internet research, and stumbled across this post from a different sort of blog: http://www.stephenwigmore.com/2012/08/populations-of-middle-earth-lord-of.html

Utilizing real-world equivalent empires and army-population proportions, his estimate is1-2 million people for Gondor, and that is being generous. If France had a population of 16 million, even after the Black Death, and Gondor only has 2 million despite have a much larger land area, why would Tolkien make his world (and other fantasy author's worlds for that matter) so unrealistically depopulated?

There are a few explanations I can think of. First, as I mentioned in a previous post Gondor itself had gone through a plague, so theoretically it may have had a population of 4 million before that. Second, given the constant threats of Mordor, random orc bands, trolls for the mountains, raids from Harad/Umbar, etc., perhaps many villages have been wiped out, lowering overall productivity and food sources for population growth?

        Finally, perhaps the most likely explanation is that a realistically populated fantasy world just doesn't work from a literary sense in most cases. Sure, in the real world most long journeys would pass through countless hamlets, small villages, and the occasional city. However, traveling with the comfort of knowing that there's a town just down the road detracts from the majesty, awe, and dangers of the quest. In addition, many defining moments in the books come from gazing upon what once was, whether that be in the form of statues, ruins, and old roads. Overall, this analysis might be purely nitpicking, but who knows. Perhaps the most fantastical part of fantasy is the idea of a world made more beautiful by having less Homo sapiens on it.

Medical Theory and Middle Earth Part 3: The Final Episode

        In this final episode of this series, though perhaps a bit on the nose let's take a look at the Great Plague of Middle Earth and how the bubonic plague (technically bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plagues) of the Middle Age and the Spanish Flu of 1918 may have inspired Tolkien to add this major event in his work. What Great Plague you may ask? Well, during research for the analytic paper (which I never ended up using...) I found that in the Appendices of the Lord of the Rings as well as in the Unfinished Tales, there are details of a Great Plague that came from the East, laying waste to Rhun, Rhovanian, Gondor and lands to the north and west. Though it killed friend and foe alike, it is highly suggested that this was instigated by Sauron, who could afford to kill a few of his pawns if it meant weakening his enemies.

        Now, the first theory one could posit as to Tolkien's inspiration for using this event in his story would be the plague caused by Yersinia pestis, spread by fleas upon black rats in the Middle Age, and indeed a lot of details check out. Tolkien writes that this plague wiped out half of the population of Rhovanion, and this mortality rate is similar to many villages that the plague touched in real life. In addition, the historical plague is theorized to have come from the east, being transported to Europe via Genoese ships before spreading to the north and west. This coincidentally is the same direction that the Great Plague of the Third Age spread. However, another possibility is that Tolkien could have been inspired by the Spanish Flu of 1918. Though it killed at a lower rate than the plague, the flu is estimated to have killed 50-100 million people, far greater than the number killed during World War I. However, regardless of which theory is correct (probably both), it is interesting to think that many events in history find a way into the literature those who lived it, whether war or disease. This only makes me wonder: what sort of stories will arise from the times we are currently living in, and what themes or messages will they try to convey?

Free Write on Hope and Despair

I think the image in the return of the king that resembles a picture of despair is the scene where Denthethor is overwhelmed by the battle and attempts to take his own life and bring Faramir with him. I think in this moment was when I realized that people were really being driven mad by the despair that was surrounding them as a result of the ongoing battle and the impending doom that Sauron was pushing towards them. You can see this despair come out in Denethor by both his actions and his words. Denethor talks about how all hope is lost and that there is no chance that they will win this battle.

On the other hand, an image of both hope and despair is when all the men of Minas Tirith ride to the black gate to drive out all the forces of Mordor. There is hope in this action because they believe that by doing this they may help divert Surons attention from Frodo and the ring. There is despair in this moment when they find that Frodo has been killed (or so they thought). I find it had to separate both the feelings of hope and despair from this situation.

Lastly, a moment of hope that I see is in the healing house when Aragorn comes to heal Faramir and Eowyn. Aragorn brings hope to his people upon arrival. You can see it in everyone's eyes that although despair surrounds them there is hope. I think these three scenarios highlight the different levels at which despair and hope can be mingled together. Denethor had no hope and was filled only with despair. Second, at the black gate, the soldiers were filled with hope coming from their previous victory, but were most likely filled with despair after finding out that Frodo had been killed. Lastly, Faramir, Eowyn, and Marry were all filled with hope upon being revived by Aragorn in the house of healing.

It's also interesting to analyse the settings in which each scenario occurs. Denethor is in despair because he is alone, separated from the rest of his people at the top of a city that is under attack. He is filled with only despair. Next, the armies of Gondor and Rohan are filled with hope as they join together to fight against the forces of Mordor, but are then filled with despair as they find out that one of their close friends has fallen. Lastly, the purest essence of hope that I find in these chapters are when characters are reunited with Aragorn. I think these three scenarios emphasize how hope comes from the people surrounding you and that despair comes from solidarity.

The Hands of a Healer

While I was reading the last part of book 5 I was drawn to the point made by Ioreth (a healer); "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known." (Chapter 8). 

I think it is interesting to look at this in the context of what Tolkien's vision of an ideal ruler is. We have seen how he values kings that ride into battle with their troops in Theoden and Aragorn, and now we see that he associates leadership with the ability to heal. 

Aragorn does a lot of healing throughout the Lord of the Rings; he helps to care for Frodo's wound from the Nazgul when they were traveling to Rivendell, he treats Frodo's bruise from the orcs in the Mines of Moria, and now he basically brings three people back from the dead. 

I also think it is interesting that he seems to heal more than just Eowyn, Faramir, and Merry's bodies' but he also heals their minds. In their unconscious state, he calls to them "each time more faintly to [the observers'] hearing, as if Aragorn himself was removed from them, and walked afar in some dark vale, calling for one that was lost." (chapter 8). Clearly, Aragorn possesses some form of magic. Whether it be from his Numenorean ancestry or from his role as king, I'm not sure. 

This idea could also stem from Tolkien's own religious background. To me, Aragorn is very reminiscent of Jesus Christ in these chapters as he heals. The prophecy is that the people will know the true king by his healing powers and the same was foretold of Christ before He came to earth.

On Denethor and courage.

I just realized something really interesting about Denethor, which I am not sure if Tolkien intended or not. I realized that while all of us would like to think we would act like Frodo or Aragorn or Gandalf in the face of the war against Sauron, it is quite likely that many or most people would really react more like Denethor, with terror and despair.

This is one of those really interesting biases in storytelling, where only those who are brave, or else at least cowardly in a particularly interesting way, get the spotlight. The rest of us, who might not go so far as to burn ourselves alive, but who would not go out to battle against monsters, tend to essentially not exist in stories. But the truth is that I doubt if you put me in Minas Tirith at the end of the third age, that I would have the courage to pick up a sword and go to battle on the fields of Pelennor.

I think that we see courage in a lot of characters where they go up against impossible odds and win is really above and beyond anything that most people can achieve. One of the brilliances of Tolkien is that he managed to frame Frodo's courage in a slightly different way, where it was not necessarily courage in battle, but rather the courage to make the best choice he could. We can still look up to people like Aragorn who are great warrior's, but Frodo's willingness to do his best in the face of great consequences is something we can really emulate, even if we are often tempted to run like Denethor.

Tolkien's Artworks: Final Thoughts

This past week we finished presenting the rest of the art reports. While the information presented was very interesting, I would have to say that the artworks themselves were my favorite part. I've always been fascinated by just how much work Tolkien put into his stories, the creation of entire cultures, languages, customs, relationships, etc. In fact, I've often wanted to learn the languages he created so that I can speak them, for one, but also because it would just be fun and cool. That being said, I failed to realize that his talents extended to artistic pieces as well. Through these art reports, I've been able to get a better grasp of all that Tolkien accomplished with regard to his life's work. Also, having never seen most of his artwork beforehand, it was interesting to compare his vision for his stories to that of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings films created in the 2000s and 2010s. Anyway, I really enjoyed learning about his artworks and think that this is an activity that all courses should include if possible.

Tolkien's Artwork

Hello everyone!

I remember Dr. Donovan asking us in class the importance of Tolkien's art and it got me thinking. Tolkien obviously had a reason behind creating the artwork for his books but what is that reason? I personally feel like he creates his art in order to almost create a draft of what he wants the world and the story to look like. We have seen in multiple art reports how he has created several different versions of his different pieces and they all have a few elements that are different whether they be time of day or the layout of the image. All his art does depict scenes and imagery from his books but most of the time it seems like the art and his writing also don't match up. this makes me think that he created his art to kind of plan out his stories instead of writing a million rough drafts. It kind of makes me think of that saying "a picture is worth a thousand words". I also believe it made it easier for Tolkien to visualize scenes/images from his books after he mapped it out by painting/drawing it.

-Frodo

Fëanor

Hello everyone!

In my rabbit hole dives I have stumbled upon the elf named Fëanor and I found him interesting so I wanted to write about him.

So the most remarkable thing about Fëanor is that not only was he an edgy elf, but the elf who created the Simarils! Also he made a little thing known as the Tengwar script (which is what a lot of people think of when they think Elvish script). This edgy guy not only gave Melkor his more known name, Morgoth, he also super hated the Valar.

 Fëanor still believed a lot of Melkor's lies and there ended up being a falling out between him and his brother, Fingolfin. This is actually what led to the destroying of the Two Trees, which brought light to the land of the Valar, and so these trees could only be remade via the light of them that was still within the Simarils. At that point, Fëanor said "I'm not giving them up and if you take them, you're basically Melkor". Shortly after that it was found out via messenger than Melkor broke in, killed his dad, and actually took the Simarils. Because of that he named Melkor "Morgoth" but still partially blamed the Valar for Morgoth's actions because he, for some reason, had listened to some of his shenaniganery. Then, after more action happens, he ends up being exiled to Middle Earth, and left Fingolfin and his followers behind! Seriously, Fingolfin didn't even actually do anything the guy just thought he wanted the Simarils. And after all of this and more fighting against Morgoth, he dies a completely unique death for elves. His spirit was literally so fiery that it burned his body to ashes. He was never reincarnated, but that he'll return for Dagor Dagorath (which is like Middle-Earth Ragnarok) and finally get his precious Simarils back.

I had briefly heard about Fëanor in passing but like many Tolkien things there's a chasm deep rabbit hole to go down once you start clicking on a few names... But I thought he was interesting as he's almost completely different from about any elf I've ever heard of and I just felt the need to share his drama with other people.

Elendil

Denethor

Myself, like most of you probably, never really liked Denethor. He seemed like just a big jerk. I still largely stand by that. Both the movies and the books don't really give Denethor a good light. He is rude to Pippin, who is just trying to help, he doesn't trust Gandalf, he almost kills Faramir, and he essentially gives up on his city in a time of crisis.

But think about the situation that Denethor is in. The power of Mordor is growing, and Gondor is on the front lines. The only thing between Sauron and the rest of the world is Gondor. He loses his eldest son and heir, and he believes that he lost his only other son. An outsider is coming in and telling him how to rule, and the prospect of Aragorn coming back and taking the throne essentially makes Denethor obsolete. His entire livelihood is under threat, and he doesn't know what to do about it. It would have been easy for Tolkien to write Denethor with the nobility of Aragorn, but instead he choses Denethor to break. If anything, that makes him more realistic than many of the other characters. In the face of almost certain doom, and the threat that life will never again be the same, it takes a hero not to be phased. Most of us, if not all of us, wouldn't be able to handle it. I certainly don't know how I would behave when faced with my own mortality like Denethor is.

I still think he is a jerk, but at least I can see his humanity now.