Can anything good come from Men?

[Kuruharan]

Kuruharan, what do you think it is in particular that Elves are able to do to change Men's evil ways?

I think there are two different things operating. The first one is that elves do seem to be more predisposed to goodness (whether that be due to something within or because they were better protected and instructed in the days of their race's infancy is a matter of debate). The second thing is the elvo-centrist paradigm of the books themselves. It must be remembered that all of Tolkien's works are written from an elven or at least elven inspired point of view. This is sometimes a very subtle but always foundational aspect of Tolkien's works. It is clear in some places, like the instance cited by Tuor that Tolkien himself saw and understood flaws in the elven worldview but such things don't creep much into the books themselves.

How does this relate to humanity and the topic at hand? Elves saw themselves as being the natural instructors and examples to humanity and thus the more elven like the particular group of humans the more "good" they were. And, naturally enough, the elven-like (or elven-lite) humans thought the same thing of the elves and thus carried this tradition on down through the ages.

But, on the other hand, it is also true that humanity's interactions with the elves *did* elevate Mankind above what they could have been on their own, especially with the constant influence of Morgoth pulling upon them.