Visible souls....

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Child

With Tolkien things are very different. We don't get inside the characters' heads in the same way as with most modern fiction. We may see a bit of what's going on inside Samwise, even less in Frodo. There are some characters where we don't get an inside glimpse at all. Some critics or even contemporary authors such as Philip Pullman have taken issue with the book because of this lack of internal characterization.

I've been paying attention to this in my latest rereading of FotR. I guess I'm changing my tune on this thread with this post. Whereas not in the same way as modern fiction, he still does get inside the hobbits' heads. Consider Sam in "The Choice of Master Samwise". Very much of this is inside Sam's head. There's a good bit in Book One (of six) that is inside Frodo's head; which is quite appropriate since this book is largely the story of Frodo coming of age. Is not Frodo's interior thought apparent in Council of Elrond too?

So I see this as not so much a matter of if Tolkien gets inside the heads of his characters, as much or not at all, but rather how.

I'm not the first one on this Board to say this, but anyone who criticizes LotR for lack of characterization is not reading the same book I am. Either that, or they're coming at it demanding the kind of characterization they want rather than what Tolkien gives them.

In LotR interior characterization is not the bedrock of the story; this is one thing that separates it from most modern fiction. What strikes me about the interior of Frodo is that it usually involves his will. This gets back to what C.S. Lewis was saying, that it is a moral kind of character growth. Frodo is facing pure evil in the Black Riders, and must fight or give in. Fighting against incredible odds results in a strengthened will, and Frodo has "grown up" by the time he has reached the Fords of Bruinen. Thus, when he volunteers to bear the Ring to Mordor, it is an informed decision. He knows how bad it can get already, and makes a clear moral choice.