Following on the heels of
davem,
Aiwendil, and
Boromir88, I don't need to belabor the point. The Scouring and its aftermath, far from being an anti-climactic, long-winded ending or a mere tieing up of loose strings, serves an important structural and thematic purpose -- arguably as important as the destruction of the Ring itself. Here we have the qualifiers of victory: evil, so lately defeated, rising up again where it is least expected; the warrior who cannot heal; the stained homeland -- stained not only by the depredations of an enemy, but by the shame of collaborators and cowards; the bitter loss of dear friends.
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‘This is worse than Mordor!’ said Sam. ‘Much worse in a way. It comes home to you, as they say; because it is home, and you remember it before it was all ruined.’
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Originally Posted by littlemanpoet
Mr. Underhill, I await your erudition in regard to Milieu or not.
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I'm not sure what you mean,
lmp. I continue to be puzzled by the concept of a story that is principally driven by milieu and am hard pressed to think of anything even approaching an example outside the works of Michener. In any case, I can't see much value in artificially separating such intertwined elements as character, plot, concept, and milieu, and then deeming one or the other as ascendant over the others. Sorry, but I think Card is all wet on this one.