Post by S on Feb 15, 2004 19:00:13 GMT -5
Okay, I saw this in Esteldil's notes for a discussion and thought it worth running with:
"Which characters from Tolkien would survive best in today's world?"
Of course, they would probably all survive, so I'll change it to "How well would they adapt?" How much of a success would their lives be? Lets set this near the end of ROTK for simplicity's sake. Mixture of characters from books and films. Here's what I think, feel free to argue.
Fellowship first:
Frodo: Well, if he can't stick it out in the Shire, I don't know how he'd survive anywhere in the 21st century.
0/10
Sam: Sam's sensible and willing to work hard and get places. If he found himself a job as a gardener in the grounds of some stately home in a quiet English village, I think he'd be just fine. 10/10. However, I think the issues of the modern world would be awfully confusing for a simple hobbit like Sam, and although he'd be happy he'd never really engage properly:
7.5/10
Merry & Pippin: Somewhat feckless, though they did gain notions of responsibility towards the end of the books. I don't think they'd work as hard as Sam and they're less likely to have successful lives, unless they are very lucky and come into a lot of money or something. However they'd be more engaged with the real world:
7.5/10
Legolas: The sea-longing would get him in the end, and he'd be awfully upset and confused at what we're doing to the environment. I put him little better than Frodo:
3/10
Gimli: With his straightforwardness and dwarfish engineering skills, he'd have been quite happy in Victorian times. However, in the faster moving world of today, he'd be more than a little lost and wouldn't have the faintest grasp of political correctness. Maybe he could find a job as a miner somewhere, but I think he'd complain that all the art had gone out of it:
6/10
Gandalf: Gandalf has lived so long and seen so many changes I think he would adapt to anywhere: 9/10
Although if he kept on insisting on his right to meddle in politics someone might eventually have him assasinated...
Aragorn: Well, I must say I can't even see how Aragorn would survive as the King Of Gondor. It is notoriously rare to find somebody who can easily make the change from warrior to statesman. However, in deference to Tolkien's art, he did handle the conversion believably well. But even if Aragorn was able to handle his non-warrior status, I'm not sure how he would react to no longer having the autonomy he had first as a Ranger and then as a King. Very few people have absolute power these days and most that do severely compromised their morality to get it. I suppose he might go and sulk in a forest somewhere, but he probably wouldn't be conventionally successful:
5/10
Boromir: Deprived of Tolkien's artificial constraints on the story (i.e. The Ring makes you Evil and Must Not Be Used.) Boromir is actually the most sensible and practical member of the whole fellowship. I can see him as successful in whatever he chooses to do, though possibly not always strictly moral. And he has enough social sense to engage completely with the modern world:
9/10
Other characters:
Eowyn: Well, she's pretty d**n tough and I can see her getting along at anything she does. With opportunities in the modern world as open to ambitious women as to men, she probably would become very successful (and a Feminist poster girl):
9/10
Gollum: Could get ring addiction treatment! But as he is, I think he'd end up living a sad and lonely life on the streets, stealing and preying on passers by: 1/10
But of course, for obvious reasons, the person best adapted to living in the modern world would be....dah...Dah...DAH!
[glow=red,2,300]Saruman.[/glow]
Ten out of ten for betraying your subjects, lying to your allies and cutting down lots of trees!
"Which characters from Tolkien would survive best in today's world?"
Of course, they would probably all survive, so I'll change it to "How well would they adapt?" How much of a success would their lives be? Lets set this near the end of ROTK for simplicity's sake. Mixture of characters from books and films. Here's what I think, feel free to argue.
Fellowship first:
Frodo: Well, if he can't stick it out in the Shire, I don't know how he'd survive anywhere in the 21st century.
0/10
Sam: Sam's sensible and willing to work hard and get places. If he found himself a job as a gardener in the grounds of some stately home in a quiet English village, I think he'd be just fine. 10/10. However, I think the issues of the modern world would be awfully confusing for a simple hobbit like Sam, and although he'd be happy he'd never really engage properly:
7.5/10
Merry & Pippin: Somewhat feckless, though they did gain notions of responsibility towards the end of the books. I don't think they'd work as hard as Sam and they're less likely to have successful lives, unless they are very lucky and come into a lot of money or something. However they'd be more engaged with the real world:
7.5/10
Legolas: The sea-longing would get him in the end, and he'd be awfully upset and confused at what we're doing to the environment. I put him little better than Frodo:
3/10
Gimli: With his straightforwardness and dwarfish engineering skills, he'd have been quite happy in Victorian times. However, in the faster moving world of today, he'd be more than a little lost and wouldn't have the faintest grasp of political correctness. Maybe he could find a job as a miner somewhere, but I think he'd complain that all the art had gone out of it:
6/10
Gandalf: Gandalf has lived so long and seen so many changes I think he would adapt to anywhere: 9/10
Although if he kept on insisting on his right to meddle in politics someone might eventually have him assasinated...
Aragorn: Well, I must say I can't even see how Aragorn would survive as the King Of Gondor. It is notoriously rare to find somebody who can easily make the change from warrior to statesman. However, in deference to Tolkien's art, he did handle the conversion believably well. But even if Aragorn was able to handle his non-warrior status, I'm not sure how he would react to no longer having the autonomy he had first as a Ranger and then as a King. Very few people have absolute power these days and most that do severely compromised their morality to get it. I suppose he might go and sulk in a forest somewhere, but he probably wouldn't be conventionally successful:
5/10
Boromir: Deprived of Tolkien's artificial constraints on the story (i.e. The Ring makes you Evil and Must Not Be Used.) Boromir is actually the most sensible and practical member of the whole fellowship. I can see him as successful in whatever he chooses to do, though possibly not always strictly moral. And he has enough social sense to engage completely with the modern world:
9/10
Other characters:
Eowyn: Well, she's pretty d**n tough and I can see her getting along at anything she does. With opportunities in the modern world as open to ambitious women as to men, she probably would become very successful (and a Feminist poster girl):
9/10
Gollum: Could get ring addiction treatment! But as he is, I think he'd end up living a sad and lonely life on the streets, stealing and preying on passers by: 1/10
But of course, for obvious reasons, the person best adapted to living in the modern world would be....dah...Dah...DAH!
[glow=red,2,300]Saruman.[/glow]
Ten out of ten for betraying your subjects, lying to your allies and cutting down lots of trees!
One reason why I don't like Bagenders (don't kill me!! 