Tolkien and the Evils of an Industrialized World

Tolkien and the Troubles of an Industrialized World

Industrialization usually causes people to divide into two categories; those who believe it is for the best, and those who are most certain it is not. Author J. R. R. Tolkien left no doubts that he fell into the latter of the two. Nineteenth century England saw the industrialization of many parts of rural Britain. As a child, Tolkien was raised in the country. The conversion of the rolling hills of his childhood home into smoke belching factories left a strong impression on him, and he was ever ready to protest such new evils and point to the benefits of a simpler life. This preference greatly influenced his many works, particularly The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.

In Tolkien's world, evil's entrance is ever marked by the establishment of factories, the cutting of trees, and the general urbanization of the land. This is not to say that those who lived in the good places of the world were deprived of the benefits of community. Indeed, the Elves live in such close communion that in places, such as Rivendell, they can all be said to be sharing a very large house. But the Elves maintain their connection with nature and are constantly surrounded by the beauties of creation. Not so for the inhabitants of Isengard, who were forced by the corrupted Saruman to exploit the land around them and live in a desolation of their own making. While the Elves are surrounded by trees, the servants of evil surround themselves with towers crafted by their own design, and their designs are always flawed. No mater how grand and impressive they are, they always come across as being places of great evil. It's not some place you would ever want to go. Tolkien is clearly showing the complete superiority of nature over anything anyone could ever create.

Industrialism represented in Tolkien's mind not only the unnatural physical marring of the landscape, but also the tyranny and selfishness that often accompanies capitalism. He saw how easily such a system could become twisted and how dangerous it was for people to have such control over the lives of others. He saw how the poor workers could be used to satisfy the tyrannical factory owner's selfish desire – for money, gain, and most of all power. It wasn't necessarily the "advances" industrialization offered that Tolkien hated, but the corruption such power could lead to. Few would be satisfied with one successful factory, they would build more and more – throwing all thoughts of temperance out the window. Industry was not the problem, merely the scale at which it was wont to happen.

Basically, Tolkien saw industrialization as a symptom of greed - an obsession with making more stuff faster, when people were fine with what they had before.

Throughout his books the Shire is the ideal. It's what the story's heroes strive to preserve and protect. In The Lord of the Rings it is made clear that Frodo is taking on the terrible burden of the Ring for the sake of his beloved Shire. Lets take a closer examination into what the Shire is. The Shire is a rural community of Hobbits who live a simple and happy life. Most of them own gardens and make their own food. Tools and objects are either made personally by the one who needs them or are bought from someone in the community who specializes in such work. Not much happens aside from the rotation of the seasons, and the normal activities of daily life, and that's the way the Hobbits like it. The Shire represents a contented way of living. Why take more, when you have enough? Why change your ways, when your methods have worked just fine for years? These are the questions Tolkien is constantly asking us.

The trouble started when a Hobbit called Pimple began buying up all the mills in the Shire. Old Tom Cotton says, "Seems he wanted to own everything himself, and then order other folk about." But Pimple didn't stop there, his greed was too strong. "Then he brought in a lot of dirty-looking men to build a bigger one (mill) and fill it full of wheels and outlandish contraptions....Pimple's idea was to grind more and faster, or so he said."

Turns out the person behind it was the corrupted wizard Saruman, known as Sharkey by the hobbits. Saruman tells the hobbits that he is bringing them "Progress," which in the end results only in filth and the destruction of the Hobbits' beloved home. The free flowing life the Shire once enjoyed is interrupted and its people are forced into the monotony of the factory life, only to be rescued when the story's heroes – Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin – return and, gathering an army of Hobbits, drive Sharkey's men off into the wilderness. Once again, Tolkien has used industrialization as a symbol of greed. He shows clearly in his works that unless such evil is combated the world will fall into darkness.

Throughout his works, evil is always shown as being very clever and that is in part probably a reason for their evilness. Tolkien's Goblins (also known as Orcs) are incredibly clever and are ingenious inventors. In The Hobbit, Tolkien writes "They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones." They don't create things out of a desire to do good, only to indulge their own laziness. Never has a goblin invented something with the intention of helping someone. Indeed, many of their machines are grotesque and horrible instruments of torture. One thinks of Nazi Germany – stark, clever, and efficient. Tolkien reveals that the goblins are responsible for many (if not all) of our modern weaponry. As he states, "It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once..."

We have invented many wonderful things, Tolkien admits, but where does such invention lead? Nowhere but to ruin and waste! He is saying this not out of a desire to live in the past, but because he had a great knowledge of human nature; and no matter how they might aspire to be noble beings, the majority will cave in to their own wants, desires, and emotions. Indeed he seems to believe that everyone, not just the weak, are in danger when exposed to powerful technology. The high race of Elves were brought to ruin because of the rings of power; which were made with new – albeit magic – technology.

As you can see, all Tolkien's work is pointing us in the same direction. He is trying to show the dangers and corruptive qualities of power, and how giving ourselves a means to control others probably isn't a good thing. We've seen that while technology itself isn't bad, it can be a great temptation to the ever self-centered human nature (and Elven, Dwarven, Hobbit, and Orcish natures as well.) And while he may not be asking us to abandon our dishwashers and cell phones, he is asking us to use them with caution and a real awareness of the effects they have not just on others, but also on ourselves.