On good and evil in Tolkien’s works

This is mostly a reflection on the elusiveness of the concept of good and evil in “Lord of the Rings”. Is Sauron really evil? Are all orcs evil, and in that case why? Is Tolkien’s world more like an utopia or a dystopia?

Tolkien was, in the middle of the 20th century, very much against modern society. Partially this was because of his experiences modern war in WWI; industrialized and dehumanized war. He was later unable to conclusively explain the orcs, but in a letter he wrote that “we were all orcs in the war”. The orcs demonstrate the change that this kind of war brings. He was afraid that the ways of modernity would transform nature and culture in the same way. He feared that the spirit of life and goodness would be driven out by machines and machine thinking.

Against this, he posited men and women that held on to their souls, mystical forces that preserved nature, and societies that held on to old ways. They would still wage war, but honorably and in defense of their homes and families. Kings and queens would rule, but they would rule with wisdom and mercy, healing and strengthening their lands without letting them change and progress. Over the first three Ages of the world, there is very little technological progress, and the only sociological changes are political (kingdoms are toppled, new kingdoms arise) or migrational (new “races” appear).

Living in his world would be amazing as long as everything is well. When the king is wise, when you are born in the right place within the right ethnic group, when the orcs are defeated and expelled, as long as you don’t mind laboring without any kind of machines and don’t need healthcare. Life would potentially be horrible in other cases.

So what is Sauron like? He is a sorcerer and a shape-shifter. He is persuasive and able to project a royal demeanor. That means that he is very dangerous in a world conditioned to follow and obey miraculous kings.

According to Tolkien, Sauron is into efficiency (Tolkien uses more words). His abilities are in making things, from jewelry to fortresses, and his armies use the original machines: siege engines of various kinds. Did Tolkien imagine that Sauron would apply his sense of efficiency to the making of things: automating, dehumanizing? The bad side of efficiency in manufacturing is cutting corners, using immoral or unhealthy materials or processes. If Sauron became the Dark Lord of the whole world, he could build his infernal factories everywhere, use his already corrupted servants to operate them (and maybe corrupt humans to become a new kind of orc), poisoning nature and grinding down cultures to cutthroat dens without purity, honor, or beauty.

Sauron created, or helped create, Rings of Power that would help their wearer rule well, but he also created a Master Ring that would subvert the intentions of the Ring bearers and corrupt them and the lands they ruled. The One Ring is the symbol for the rot Tolkien feared would afflict men, culture, and nature.

It seems that the conflict in “The Lord of the Rings” is rooted in a fear of what modern society might do to us. In that context, what does good and evil actually mean?

Tolkien handles this better in “The Hobbit”, because there he brings the moral issues down to a personal level, with both utilitarian and honor-based criteria. Bard and Thranduil are more moral than Thorin and Dain, because the former pair show restraint and are willing to consider the needs and rights of others. The latter pair are basically good but are blinded by greed and by being too hasty, respectively. Each one of these, once you sit down and talk to them, are reasonable and honorable.

The goblins/orcs, on the other hand, are bloodthirsty, greedy, and full of hate. This is understandable since they have a long history of conflict with the others, and have recently had their king assassinated. But the thing that makes them ‘bad’ (and very nearly made Thorin ‘bad’) is that they will only listen to their bloodthirst, greed, and hate. There is no way to sit down and reason with them (and they feel the same about us): as long as they assume this attitude, the only way to deal with them is as enemies.

1930s Tolkien dealt with good and evil on a very human level and didn’t rule out that someone who seemed evil could turn out to be decent, or that someone who seemed good could be wicked. This thinking was present in 1950s Tolkien’s writings too, but mostly he abstracted good and evil away and wrapped them up in a sort of mythological conservatism.