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Is That an Orc in Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Happy to Be Evil?

© Michael Martinez

It may be a strategic shift in our social values which leads to many gamers today wanting to play Orcs and other bad guys in upcoming Tolkien-related games. Why is that? Do the bad guys really win that often in Tolkien? Or does Tolkien purism take a back seat to the opportunity for engaging in general mayhem? The evil creatures of Middle-earth are often lumped together as "evil races" but that is really a misnomer. Sure, no one ever heard of a "good" Orc, but many people believe that the Orcs were simply bred from corrupted Elves. Deep down inside, they may still have a kernel of goodness which was suppressed by the overpowering wills of Melkor and Sauron. It's a bit difficult to rationalize how Orcs could be anything like the "good" races of Middle-earth, but then, the Orcs aren't really supposed to be anything other than an aspect of the humane. They are a reflection of the worst qualities we find in ourselves. Orcs feel loyalty, express courage, and honor their oaths. But they also live in constant fear, dwell on hatred and contempt, and treat everything with absolute disregard. They are depraved, debased, and extremely selfish. In writing about the Elves, Tolkien noted that they, too, were just an aspect of the humane. They represent human artistic endeavor in an enhanced or enlightened state. But part of the Elvish enlightenment derives from their own fall. They had to sink pretty low in order to rise up as high as they are perceived to be in The Lord of the Rings. There is an echo of Tolkien's hope that humanity's artistic side will somehow overcome the bestial nature which threatens to engulf us. But in The Lord of the Rings the Elves ultimately are doomed to leave, and the question of whether the Orcs are all killed off is left open. Most likely some of them survive, and Tolkien seems to hint in letters to his son that some of the Orcs survived and interbred with Men. The message he leaves us as Elrond's white ship sails off toward the sunset is that all which empowers our love of beauty is on the verge of leaving us. Men must remain behind and do with the world what they can. But the age of enchantment has departed and we must achieve Art through mundane efforts. Elvish grace and beauty are counterbalanced by their sins. The Elves do act evilly on more than one occasion. But they are somehow forgiven, perhaps because they ultimately take responsibility for their decisions and suffer the consequences of their actions. Gil-galad thus dies and his death brings an end to the dominance of Noldorin culture in Middle-earth. The torch does not fully pass to Men in the Third Age, but the leadership of the West clearly falls to Arnor and Gondor, and they bear the burden of challenging Sauron and his servants for supremacy.

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