Timeline for Why was Tom Bombadil so unconcerned about the fate of Middle-earth?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
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| Nov 3, 2020 at 16:29 | comment | added | Mark Olson | A late comment, but (I hope) better than none: I think this is a solid answer, but needs to be noted that the extreme pacifism of Bombadil is not morally superior to (say) Gandalf's activism in taking down Sauron. Tom has diminished himself by declining moral choices. As Gandalf says, "And now he is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days..." | |
| Jun 16, 2020 at 9:31 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Sep 29, 2015 at 13:26 | vote | accept | user31546 | ||
| Jun 3, 2015 at 21:21 | comment | added | Premier Bromanov | @NathanielFord good to know my point has no sway | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 20:48 | comment | added | Nathaniel Ford | @TomSterkenburg LOTR is not a WWII allegory. I refer you to the opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article on it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 18:52 | comment | added | Wad Cheber | Kaiser in WWI, to the leader of Switzerland: "Your army is only 250,000 men strong. What will they do if I send half a million men across your border?" Swiss leader: "Fire twice and go home". (Every man in Switzerland is obligated to serve in the military and bring his weapons home when his enlistment is over) | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 18:49 | comment | added | Wad Cheber | @TomSterkenburg - also, no one would have bothered Switzerland because the Swiss had everyone's money, and would have thrown interest rates into chaos if anyone messed with them. Plus, no one was willing to fight a country composed entirely of narrow mountain roads and inhabited by sharpshooters. | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 18:46 | comment | added | Wad Cheber | @TomSterkenburg -In the books, the Ents were never really opposed to entering the war | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 18:36 | comment | added | Premier Bromanov | I might even go as far as to say that in Tolkiens universe, there is no grey-area, and he wanted to make that obvious with examples of characters that SEEMED neutral (grey) but were in fact good or evil. Orcs are deliberately evil, even in ways where it makes no sense to be, and are designed to be the ultimate evil force. The reader is not meant to question our heroe's killing of them, it simply isnt that kind of book. I digress though. | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 18:34 | comment | added | Premier Bromanov | Bombadil (as well as the ents) was also an analogy to neutral parties during WW2, as much as LotR lends itself to that analogy (which is to say that there are a lot of metaphors for real-life occurrences, but WW2 is not exclusively among them). His assertion was that if evil wins, neutral parties lose as well. paraphrasing pippin to the ents: But you're part of this world! Bombadil was largely a, I believe, swiss analogy. Both were very powerful, both could sway the war in one direction or another, and both seemed to not care. Had Sauron (Hitler) won the war, Bombadil (swiss) would also lose. | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 13:02 | comment | added | Jason Baker | @curiousdannii Depends on your morals, I guess. I don't think we can call Bombadil "good" or "bad"; he's on nobody's side, because nobody is on his side. But I would still call his assistance to the Hobbits "good". Outcome exists independently of intent, as Gollum (and innumerable historical examples) showed us | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 12:29 | comment | added | curiousdannii | So, if Bombadil is beyond caring about good and evil, can we call him a good character? Was his assistance to the hobbits equally amoral? | |
| Jun 3, 2015 at 8:11 | comment | added | Edheldil | @Wad: or personification of Ea (the Earth) or nature. | |
| Jun 2, 2015 at 22:16 | comment | added | Harry Johnston | @Wad: I would guess that he trusts that things will happen as is best in the long run, and if what is best happens to include his death and the destruction of his country, well, ring a dong dillo! | |
| Jun 2, 2015 at 22:02 | comment | added | Wad Cheber | I wonder if Tom actually knows that Sauron will be defeated without any further effort on his own part? He is incredibly ancient and wise, after all - some people even think he might be Eru (the fact that these people are wrong doesn't change the fact that Tom might have access to information we don't). | |
| Jun 2, 2015 at 17:29 | comment | added | Matt Gutting | I wouldn't necessarily say that he doesn't care about good and evil (that is, that he doesn't care whether individuals behave in a good or evil manner); but he doesn't care about making certain that one side or the other in a "good versus evil" struggle wins. | |
| Jun 2, 2015 at 16:39 | comment | added | user31546 | Take it this is the reason why he doesn't seem to care that old man willow resides in his boundaries until the tree decides to munch on merry and pip :p | |
| Jun 2, 2015 at 16:35 | history | answered | Jason Baker | CC BY-SA 3.0 |