A Few Thoughts on Escape

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="005dba33.gif"> <div> <B>A Few Thoughts on Escape</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Of Chapter Titles"><U>Of Chapter Titles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Higher Gifts"><U>Higher Gifts</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Perilous Realm in Middleearth"><U>The Perilous Realm in Middle-earth</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id91.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="That what should be shall be"><U>'That what should be shall be'</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Congratulations! Its a Classic!"><U>Congratulations! It's a Classic!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dont the great tales never end?"><U>"Don't the great tales never end?"</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hobbits as Cultural Outsiders"><U>Hobbits as Cultural Outsiders</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What your folk would call magic"><U>What your folk would call magic</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Ring as Birthday Present"><U>The Ring as Birthday Present</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Deconstructing Middleearth"><U>Deconstructing Middle-earth</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Star Trek vs. LotR"><U>Star Trek vs. LotR</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Monster and a Critic"><U>A Monster and a Critic</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id93.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wanderin Star"><U>Wanderin' Star</U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="27e9dbd0.jpg" border=0 width="157" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Painting by Magritte</B></div> <div> <B>Image available copyright-free at </B><A HREF="http://www.pics.am" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.pics.am"><U><B>pics.am</B></U></A><B>.</B></div> <div> <B>Main page background is made from this same image and is available at </B><A HREF="http://www.afewwordsabout.us" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.afewwordsabout.us"><U><B>A Few Words...</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Brick background is from </B><A HREF="http://www.GRSites.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.GRSites.com"><U><B>GRSites.com</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="005dba33.gif"> <div> <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us"><U><IMG SRC="006ef530.jpg" border=0 width="239" height="83" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div>  |    <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us/"><U> </U></A><A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us/"><U>home</U></A> |  back to  <A HREF="id12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="For Tolkien Geeks"><U><B>For Tolkien Geeks</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="27f9f923.jpg"> <div>     </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="6" CELLPADDING="10" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="376" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#3366CC" BORDERCOLORDARK="#003366" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 82 WIDTH="340"><div> <I><B>Wish I could find a good book  to live in.</B></I></div> <div> <B>-- </B><I><B>Melanie</B></I><I><B> </B></I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#660000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><I> </I></FONT></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <I><B>A Few Thoughts on Escape</B></I></div> <div> If you're about my age or a bit older, you might remember Melanie from "Candles in the Rain," especially if you were around any peace demonstrations. If you're a little younger, you might know "I've Got a Brand New Pair of Rollerskates."  Somewhere during that time, she wrote and recorded, "Look What They've Done to My Song," which I think just about anyone who's poured heart and soul into a creative work and then put it out for public display can identify with. It's been running through my head lately, so it was bound to come out here. The verse my mind lands on the most is: </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Wish I could find a good book</div> <div> to live in. </div> <div> Wish I could find a good book. </div> <div> If I could find a real good book, </div> <div> I'd never have to come out and look</div> <div> at what they've done to my song. </div> <bR> <div> I don't know if it's a coincidence that Melanie and <I>The Lord of the Rings</I> hit home in America at about the same time.  I have absolutely no evidence that she was thinking of <I>LotR </I>when she wrote that verse; in fact I'd be surprised if she was. After all, she does say that she <I>wishes </I>she could find a good book to live in.</div> <bR> <div> The accusation of "escapism" leveled at fantasy was something Tolkien fought even before he'd written <I>LotR</I>. "On Fairy-stories" was originally written in 1938-1939, and added to and republished in 1947; its first publication happened about the same time he was beginning to write <I>LotR </I>(as he mentions in his Introduction to the essay in <I>Tree and Leaf</I> and <I>The Tolkien Reader</I>) and World War II was starting. At the time of its second publication, World War II was over but he was still years away from finishing <I>LotR</I>. I find two basic arguments about escape in that essay: that escape is not necessarily a bad thing (for example, to a prisoner), and that fantasy's role is not to take us away from reality but deeper into it. If you combine those two arguments, you might say that the purpose of fantasy is to free us from being imprisoned by the surface elements of life so that we can catch glimpses of what lies beneath them. Not all fantasy fulfills that purpose, certainly, but I believe Tolkien's does. Or maybe I should say that Tolkien's <I>can</I>; it's still up to the individual reader to allow that to happen. </div> <bR> <div> To be honest, when I've found a "real good book," it can be more than tempting to stay in its world to avoid dealing with this one. As with any good thing, Tolkien's work can be misused, and his fantasy can be used for escapism instead of escape. Sometimes this is temporary and, especially for younger readers, even necessary; because of the sheer complexity of Tolkien's subcreation - to say nothing of the storyline and characters - some time exploring its surface may be needed before we start to be affected by the truth that lies beneath. And the two do go hand in hand. A new understanding of something that may seem to be an insignificant part of the story can lead to an "a-ha" moment regarding something deeper.</div> <bR> <div> I also want to avoid the trap of saying that in order to use Tolkien's writing as escape (rather than escapism), a reader has to studiously mine below the surface or pull apart the rocks. I haven't been able to come up with a completely positive parallel for what I'm trying to say here, so this comparison is very limited, but I'd look at it somewhat like an underground deposit of uranium. Some people are likely to come along searching for uranium, discover the deposit, mine it and use it in power plants. But there are also likely to be people living above the deposit who never know it's there, but who are still affected by it. They know there's "something" that has affected them, and even realize that it's related to where they live, but they can't define it. They may or may not learn about it when other people start digging up the uranium or when they themselves begin using electricity from the new power plant. But that knowledge isn't necessary for them to feel the effects.  </div> <bR> <div> Tolkien, after all, was creating mythology and writing fantasy in which the deeper elements were absorbed into the story. Myth by definition involves areas of human existence that can't entirely be explained in words, any more than the people digging up the uranium can completely control its radiation (although they might like to think they can). As with any infinitely-knowable mystery, the shelves of books that have been written - and will be written - on Tolkien's subcreation can never say it all; a reader who doesn't consciously "interpret" what he or she is reading may be more deeply affected than anyone else. </div> <bR> <div> Just after the release of the <I>LotR/FotR </I>movie, there was a beautifully simple thread on one discussion board titled, "Does this movie hurt your heart?" IIRC, the person who started the thread hadn't read the book, had been deeply affected by her encounter with Tolkien's world through the movie, and honestly wanted to know if anyone else had felt the same thing. She couldn't articulate the full effect the movie had had on her, but she knew it had touched her deeply enough to cause pain (the type of pain that, once experienced, you don't want to have taken away - a mystery in itself). During the several years since then, I've happened to run across a couple of other things this same person has written. She has, of course, now seen the other two movies and read the book, and has more of a conscious understanding of what it is in Tolkien's work that touches her. But it was that first profound, inarticulate encounter that began the process. </div> <bR> <div> Instead of trying to put it all into words myself, I've used a painting by René Magritte  that I think makes a similar statement (left border of this page). I suppose there could be various ways to "stack" the images in the painting, but I've always seen it as the dove opening a space that allows the further reality to shine through the bleak "real world" that otherwise obscures it. In Tolkien's words, "I feel as if an ever darkening sky over our present world had been suddenly pierced, the clouds rolled back, and an almost forgotten sunlight had poured down again." For some reason, I regularly find myself back in the same old place I've escaped from before - I think it's about time for another prison break. </div> <bR> <div> ________________________</div> <div> <B>Copyright 2006 by Trudy G. Shaw</B></div> <div> <B>Permission to publish on other websites is granted, provided that this copyright notice and an active link to this site are included.  </B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id88_m.htm" TITLE="A Few Thoughts on Escape"><U><IMG SRC="27d6f2b0.jpg" border=0 width="111" height="43" ALT="Top of page" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>