The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 10

Aiwendil · 08-25-2004, 09:10 AM

This chapter reminds me of chapter 5 in a way - like that chapter, it consists primarily of conversation, and its function is largely to sort things out and tell us who is going to do what. The big question that the chapter deals with is, of course, "who is Strider?" But also discussed are Butterbur's character, the movements of the Black Riders, and what the Hobbits are to do next.

In a way, the chapter is a temporary decrease in tension. Despite Sam's suspicion, it is not all that hard for the reader to guess at the outset that Strider will turn out to be a friend; the suspense surrounding his character in chapter 9 dissipates fairly quickly. The chapter then is not so much about playing with the reader's opinion of Strider as it is about the logic of the Hobbits' acceptance of him. And this logic is handled rather neatly with Gandalf's letter. The suspense is then re-ignited with Merry's entrance and news of the Black Riders.

So we have a whole chapter more or less devoted to establishing Aragorn as a character. I think this is interesting, as Aragorn is, I have always felt, one of the flatter characters in the book. I don't mean that in a pejorative way. He is a flat character in the tradition of great flat characters like Aeneas and Beowulf. It's not that he is poorly characterized, just that he does not have the same sort of psychological hook as Turin or Gollum or even Frodo. So why a whole chapter devoted to characterizing him? Well, part of it is that because he is a flat character, one chapter is sufficient. Aragorn's character is almost completely laid out very quickly here (even if his real identity is not yet clear to the Hobbits), whereas, for example, Frodo's is not fully explored until the end of the book.

Strider's character is even boiled down rather nicely to a single phrase. Frodo says that a servant of the enemy would "look fair and feel foul"; Strider really does "look foul and feel fair". He looks foul in the sense that he looks the way we would expect an enemy to look - he sits mysteriously in the corner of the common room; he even scrambles over the gate as a "dark figure" and melts "into the shadows below". But as soon as he begins speaking, his true nature becomes evident. The way he speaks is simply not the way enemies speak in Tolkien's universe.

08-25-2004, 09:10 AM	#6
Aiwendil Late Istar Join Date: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,224	This chapter reminds me of chapter 5 in a way - like that chapter, it consists primarily of conversation, and its function is largely to sort things out and tell us who is going to do what. The big question that the chapter deals with is, of course, "who is Strider?" But also discussed are Butterbur's character, the movements of the Black Riders, and what the Hobbits are to do next. In a way, the chapter is a temporary decrease in tension. Despite Sam's suspicion, it is not all that hard for the reader to guess at the outset that Strider will turn out to be a friend; the suspense surrounding his character in chapter 9 dissipates fairly quickly. The chapter then is not so much about playing with the reader's opinion of Strider as it is about the logic of the Hobbits' acceptance of him. And this logic is handled rather neatly with Gandalf's letter. The suspense is then re-ignited with Merry's entrance and news of the Black Riders. So we have a whole chapter more or less devoted to establishing Aragorn as a character. I think this is interesting, as Aragorn is, I have always felt, one of the flatter characters in the book. I don't mean that in a pejorative way. He is a flat character in the tradition of great flat characters like Aeneas and Beowulf. It's not that he is poorly characterized, just that he does not have the same sort of psychological hook as Turin or Gollum or even Frodo. So why a whole chapter devoted to characterizing him? Well, part of it is that because he is a flat character, one chapter is sufficient. Aragorn's character is almost completely laid out very quickly here (even if his real identity is not yet clear to the Hobbits), whereas, for example, Frodo's is not fully explored until the end of the book. Strider's character is even boiled down rather nicely to a single phrase. Frodo says that a servant of the enemy would "look fair and feel foul"; Strider really does "look foul and feel fair". He looks foul in the sense that he looks the way we would expect an enemy to look - he sits mysteriously in the corner of the common room; he even scrambles over the gate as a "dark figure" and melts "into the shadows below". But as soon as he begins speaking, his true nature becomes evident. The way he speaks is simply not the way enemies speak in Tolkien's universe.