Building the Bad Guy

[Boromir88]

The thing is, Tolkien was not scared of making us see how all people can easily slip into doing bad things, into being villains.~Lal

Very good point. Tolkien did not seem to offend any one particular group, because his villains can't only be seen as being representations of one particular group, but can be seen as being anyone. Unlike Horowitz who talks about the fact that he can't create a villain who is an environmentalist, a religious fanatic...etc, Tolkien's villains (nor as you cogently argue Orwell's) are not aimed at a group of individuals but every single individual person. Anyone can be 'the villain.'

And Tolkien doesn't do this just with his villains, but also with most of his characters (when we are talking about The Lord of the Rings). There are a few characters that seem super good and the ultimate heroes (Gandalf, the Elves, and Aragorn for instance). Sure they make their own errors in judgement from time to time, but they just seem too great and heroic for the everyday individual to be able to identify with. Or at least I've never been able to identify with them.

The Lord of the Rings focuses around Hobbits, and I think Tom Simon does an excellent job explaining why it was Hobbits that made The Lord of the Rings a success and why for millions of readers The Silmarillion was a failure.

Personally, I find Mr. Simon's comments to be dead on, but everyone is different with what they like and don't like. I found it much easier to connect with the ordinary and simple hobbits than with the 'high and noble' Elves. When it comes down to it, it is the ordinary and simple that 'save the world,' and it is the 'ordinary and simple' that dominate the Lord of the Rings.

So, not only are Tolkien's villains capable of being anybody, but also the heroes (or perhaps the unheroes is a better word ) can also be anybody.