I was interested in the “desire for more” talked about in the essay by Eric Katz. He goes through in the essay talking about the different people’s wishes for the ring. He describes how characters always want something more that the ring can give them. Boromir wants the ring to destroy the forces of Mordor. He wants it to make Gondor into a greater nation, and he into the great captain of all the forces of Middle Earth to wipe out Mordor. Galadriel imagines herself as a great and terrible queen ruling over Middle Earth. "You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!" (FR, p. 410) When Sam puts on the ring he is tempted by envisioning himself as “Samwise the Strong.” He destroys Mordor and makes the land beautiful. All he would have to do in this temptation was take the ring. These are just some of the temptations for characters.
This essay seems to me to suggest that the wish for being greater or more than you are can cause the problems of evil and corruption. It reminds me of the original sin. Eve was tempted by the devil to take a fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This temptation for becoming more than what she was prompted her to take the fruit. This desire for more was the original cause for all the evil in the world for this is when sin entered the world. So is it wrong to want more? I myself am a college student, but I wish to become a doctor. In my opinion becoming a doctor would be a becoming of more than I currently am. Based on the essay is it more than I should be, or is it that I just haven’t reached where I am supposed to be yet? My belief is of course the latter.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I'm still trying to reconcile the notions of not wanting to be more, and also the idea of "being all you can be".
Look at Eowyn, (Yes I may be obbsessed with her) But on page 964 Faramire says to her "and you wished to have renown and glory and to be lifted far above the mean things that crawl on the earth." I look at this and think isn't this what every christian wants? To be lifted to following Christ in some way that glorifies Him? And a worm can't do that. And look at what Eowyn did with that desire, she totally killed the huge nasty Nazgul, the second in Command to Sauron. So I wonder was it evil for her to desire more? Or was she just being all she could be and fullfilling destiny?
Post a Comment