Psychological depth in Tolkien's characters

[Theron Bugtussle]

Bêthberry: I am very uncomfortable with some of what is suggested in this post.

1. I was not speaking of WWI era, since my comments were specific to the '30's and '40's.

2. The comment about Britain standing "even alone" was an allusion to Churchill's speech of June 4, 1940 to the House of Commons:

...we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. ...we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

3. My point is/was precisely that different people, both entire countries and different segments of people within a single country, reacted differently to the same dark time. I don't see that the point is invalidated. I am not downplaying Canada or another country's role if I note that France and other countries capitulated. Or that the German and Austrian people accepted Nazism with more or less open arms.

That there were large contingents within both US and Britain that wanted to stay out of the war is clear, I didn't say otherwise. Britain elected Chamberlain as PM and got "Peace in Their Time." (That is intended as a light-hearted reminder.) But thank God for Churchill! America needed to be convinced it was indeed "their" war, too, and eventually came around.

...before you claim religious superiority...

4. I don't know what attitude of "religious superiority" you refer to. But the WWII Allied forces "liberated" countries, then went home, except for defensive assistance to NATO. The Soviet Army "conquered" and swallowed countries into their system. That would be a clear difference in results produced by the outworking of the cultural and religious influences from these two 'sides.' Even though, as I said before,

...all possessed the same sinful nature.

5. I hope the moderators will forgive this side foray. I would like to get my reply back on topic.

Remember, I was originally trying to counter Eurytus countering Mark's argument from the first page in the thread. I do believe that my examples show that certain people or societies or even eras can and do have differing values, concepts they honor and pursue, though they may struggle, or even fail, in the attempt to achieve those aims.