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Originally Posted by Nogrod
I could easily see Tolkien thinking "war evil, massmurder evil, killing-industry evil - peace good, compradeship good, sacrifice beautiful" with his own experiences. But why did that led him to make orcs or Sauron or Morgoth or... more or less pure evil or bad as the enemy?
Okay. Morgoth or Sauron might be interpreted symbolically or allegorically to stand for evilness itself, the bad in the world. The wars he depicts look just like the absurd waste of human life in both World Wars but still the other side in his stories are just heroes and the others are purely black.
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There are a few possibilities that spring to mind.
An 'evil race' is not only unrealistic but probably dangerous as well. One will probably find it much more plausible that these people have been corrupted by a powerful figure with ill motives. The orcs themselves, perhaps, are in need of liberation just as much as the 'free peoples' are.
Another possibility is down to the narrative structure. In a big adventure like this you need a focus point. A goal to be a chived and barriers to overcome. Sauron, I would argue, represents a sort of ultimate obstacle, the overbearing shadow of the story to keep the narrative going. The same goes for Morgoth.
These two things are related. Even in the Silmarillion we get a hint of it. Feanor curses Morgoth but not, interestingly, the Orcs (if I remember correctly). He is the focus of his ire and scorn. The Orcs, while, perhaps, representing an extension of his will, are not what he is fighting. He wants revenge on Morgoth.
I'm sure I read somewhere that C.S. Lewis commented on the attitude of some British soldiers who refused to believe the propaganda in the Newspapers and thought the Germans couldn't be all that bad. Perhaps Tolkien had witnessed similar things. It's not the people who are evil, as it were, but the power that drives them. This, again, likely derives from Tolkien's theology as well as experience.
But, as for the 'enlightenment', one must always be a little cautious of something that gives itself such a presumptive name.
Anxiety does seem like a major factor in a lot of the Lord of the Rings anyway. Frodo comments, of Saruman, that he wasn't evil in the beginning. Perhaps the threat of Sauron isn't just his ability to destroy, but his tendency to turn things to his will, to bend the hearts of his followers. Corruption seems to be a large theme in Tolkien and there are many examples of it.
We can see a lot of this fear and anxiety in the attitudes of The Hobbits. They don't like change. Bilbo, in The Hobbit, is very reluctant to go on a 'nasty disturbing' adventure that would make him 'late for tea'. The thing that Saruman does when messing with the Shire is to change it almost beyond recognition, not just in the physical land, but also in the people. Ted Sandyman was probably a good enough Hobbit when he wanted to be, but Saruman's influence couldn't have done him much good. The same probably goes for Bill Ferny and others.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it...
Fear of change has always been around, but the end of The Lord of the Rings points to a future in which, not only are they returning to the Golden Age of old, but are moving forward into a New Age; the Fourth Age. The Elves are leaving, their influence is pittering out. The Wizards are lost, dead or sailing away. As much as the Hobbits may dislike it, "The World is changing".