Are Hobbits capable of evil? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

The Squatter of Amon Rûdh · 01-09-2002, 11:05 AM

Blimey. Agreement. Must be slipping ;-)
Actually I've just remembered a nice example from somewhere else; Samuel Butler's "Erewhon", to be precise.
In Erewhon, for the benefit of those who lack the stomach for Butler's turgid moralising, they have a game called "Virtues and Vices", which is something like chess, only with a moral message: The virtues tend to ally with each other, whereas the vices divide in competition. I think he intended to imply that vices can't win, which would make for a pretty boring game; but, IMO, that's the problem when one tries to make morals stand in for a plot.

Apologies for not mentioning the Professor. I shall rectify that omission immediately by saying that he doesn't fall into this trap, which is why everyone's heard of LoTR, but "Erewhon" is just another utopian novel.

01-09-2002, 11:05 AM	#30
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh Spectre of Decay Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Bar-en-Danwedh Posts: 2,178	Blimey. Agreement. Must be slipping ;-) Actually I've just remembered a nice example from somewhere else; Samuel Butler's "Erewhon", to be precise. In Erewhon, for the benefit of those who lack the stomach for Butler's turgid moralising, they have a game called "Virtues and Vices", which is something like chess, only with a moral message: The virtues tend to ally with each other, whereas the vices divide in competition. I think he intended to imply that vices can't win, which would make for a pretty boring game; but, IMO, that's the problem when one tries to make morals stand in for a plot. Apologies for not mentioning the Professor. I shall rectify that omission immediately by saying that he doesn't fall into this trap, which is why everyone's heard of LoTR, but "Erewhon" is just another utopian novel. __________________ Man kenuva métim' andúne?