Visible souls....

[Child of the 7th Age]

The other day I was reading an article from the NYTimes dated January 15, 1967. . This was based on an interview with Tolkien by Philip Norman, one of the paper's staff reporters who worked in England. This article had a number of interesting things to say, but I was especially struck by one paragraph in which C. S. Lewis was quoted.

Lewis had been asked why Tolkien would ever have chosen to point out morals and moral themes within the context of an "extravagent fantasy". The response by Lewis was direct and to the point:

"Because, I take it... the real life of men is of that mystical and heroic quality... The imagined beings have their inside on the outside; they are visible souls. And Man as a whole, Man pitted against the Universe, have we seen him at all till we see that he is like a hero in a fairy tale?"

The sentence that struck me with greatest force was the one I've placed in italics: "The imagined beings have their inside on the outside; they are visible souls." I cannot think of a better one-sentence description of the characters in the Lord of the Rings than this.

We have talked in several threads about how modern fiction focuses on the interior of the character rather than the story itself. We are led inside the characters' heads to understand the individual's conflicting desires and psychological motives. What is happening inside the character is often very different than what is readily apparent to the naked eye. It is almost as if these characters (perhaps like ourselves?) wear masks.

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.

My own response is different. When I finish reading the final chapter, I often feel that I know these characters better than many others in modern literature where I have been led inside their heads (including those in His Dark Materials). I think the reason for this is exactly what Lewis says: Tolkien's characters are constructed differently. They are visible souls that wear their inside on their outside. The good ones may be silent but they certainly don't wear masks. We don't have to go inside their heads because the important things are there in plain sight for all to see.

I guess I've got a string of questions connected with this quote. Does anyone else regard the characters in LotR in the same way that Lewis does in this quotation? In what ways do specific Tolkien's characters "wear their inside on their outside"?

Assuming that there is some truth in this assessment, this raises still another set of questions. Is this way of depicting characters something that Tolkien first saw reflected in his own reading of early sources like Beowulf or the Kalevala? Or does it spring from his own world view as a Christian and a Catholic? Or from something else entirely?

And then there is that intriguing question that Lewis himself raises at the end of his quote: "And Man as a whole, Man pitted against the Universe, have we seen him at all till we see that he is like a hero in a fairy tale?" Is this true, and is this why so many folk are endlessly drawn back into the story? Can we even understand ourselves as individuals unless we too regard ourselves as heroes in a fairy tale?