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Beware That Baker in the Kitchen! - Page 3

© Michael Martinez

The answer eluded Tolkien. He could only decide that Iluvatar knew what he was doing, but that if the Orcs were rational incarnates, this somehow served Iluvatar's purpose. One might just as easily ask, however, why Iluvatar would allow a child to be born who would grow up to become Ar-Pharazon. What is the difference between a King of Numenor who turns to evil and the Orcs who are raised in evil, except that the Orcs are denied free choice? Gandalf seemed to speak of the Orcs when he told Denethor, "And for me, I pity even [Sauron's] slaves". Evil exists on both sides of the war, then. So evil is not really about "us" and "them". It's about the choices one makes within the bounds of one's life. An Orc's choice to waylay and rob people is evil. Sauron probably didn't allow highway robbery in his realm. All the goods belonged to him and served his needs. Pity the Orc who robbed one of his supply trains! But if evil is to be found everywhere, can good be found everywhere? This question is more difficult to answer. The Orcs would have abided by Sauron's laws for the most part. They feared him and they feared the consequences of disobedience. But was a law-abiding Orc being "good"? Put another way, if a Man were to live under Sauron's rule (and many did), and he acted no differently from the Orcs, was he any less evil for being a Man, or any more good? I don't think so. He had the advantage of caste, perhaps, but only if Men in general were treated better by Sauron than the Orcs. It may be that the Orcs got better treatment (but probably everyone was treated equally badly). Saruman tried to set himself up as a dark lord, and he represents what Sauron might have achieved very early on, before the War of the Elves and Sauron. Sauron had to start out as a lonely Maia at some point in the Second Age. It would have taken him time to accumulate followers and slaves. And until he settled in Mordor, long before he made the One Ring, how effective was his control of other creatures? How many other creatures was he capable of imposing his will upon? When Sauron began to dominate Melkor's former servants, he may have been only a little worse than an angry village baker. That is, his sins in the First Age were no doubt legion, but he had recanted for a time. A long time. It would be centuries before Sauron returned to his evil ways. Was there simply a moment of anger somewhere which triggered the return to darkness and evil? Was that how Saruman began to walk the path?

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