Pullman rips on LOTR, others

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Yes. Lewis instead gave us a kind of begrudging grace, and a strictly rationed hope. This is why Tolkien stomps all over Lewis as he just didn't bring that stuff into it - you get the sense that even Gollum got something in the end.

That's a fascinating comparison, Lal, between Susan and Gollem. One of Tolkien's great achievements in LotR is, I think, his depiction of pity--the word itself is currently unfashionable, although the behaviour is not--especially for Gollem. Gandalf's talk with Frodo early in Bag End colours so much of the moral vision of Middle-earth. Even the ends of Saruman and Grima ring true morally--nothing contrived there, but a logical acting out of the impulses and consequences which the entire story unfolds. It isn't petty or narrow minded or self-complacent.

Really, when I think of Lewis and Susan, I can't help thinking of Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre at the charity school for orphans forcing the teachers to cut off the girl's hair because it was naturally curly and thus a symptom of the terrible vanity girls fall prey to.