“What do eyes do?”
"See…?“
"Good job, smarty-pants. What else do they do?”
"Hmmm… Blink?“
"Not when they’re making videos they don’t.”
"Yeah, I guess they really don’t do much other than see…“
**This video says so much so quickly and so precisely. I think it’s possibly one of my favorite vlogbrothers videos:
In Lord of the Rings, the symbol of the eye especially interests me. What does Sauron do besides just see? Nothing. He is basically a giant disembodied, lidless, all-seeing eye. (At least for the sake of LotR). Yet we know he is the source of an extremely terrifying, absolute evil throughout the series. Sauron’s eye is basically the same symbol (sorry, Tolkien! I know you hate allegory…) as Dr. E’s eyes are in Gatsby.
HOWEVER, I do think the meaning behind each symbol is extremely different. I think in Gatsby, it’s pretty well established that Dr.’s E’s giant, disembodied, all-seeing eyes are supposed to symbolize God and how God may only be in the "seeing business,” as John would say. Fitzgerald (a WWI vet as well) really questions the extent to whether God cares about what happens to your heart and, to a lesser extent, what happens to you in relation to who you are as a person.
So while the symbol of the eye is the same with Sauron, it’s implication is not. Sauron, the Dark Lord, is a lidless and therefore all-seeing, all-knowing eye, and just like the billboard of Dr. E, HE JUST SEES. That is all. (Granted, he’s not a billboard ad, but you get the point). Instead of questioning the activity of God, Tolkien appears to question the limitedness of evil, without the doing of man or other beings… Or perhaps Sauron’s eye serves to demonstrate how formless and unidentifiable evil can really be, and how shapeless evil may be the worst form to try and fight against…
Because all the eye can do is see, it literally must rely on other eyes, ears, tongues and hands to do its work (enter Grima WormTONGUE, Saruman and countless disgusting orcs and uruk-hai, who bear the white HAND of Saruman on their armor). The process of indirectly spreading Sauron’s evil is severely muddled and therefore much more confusing and deceptive to people as to where they believe the hearts of others lie, as well as where they believe their own hearts lie… It breeds fear and doubt, which I would argue, at least in the movies, serve to be great obstacles for all of the characters, as they falter between hope and fear throughout the entire series. Sauron’s evil is unidentifiable and therefore it has the power to become ubiquitous and infiltrate Middle Earth from the top down. (I guess it’s a good thing Hobbits are short…)
I also think the concept of being constantly watched, or thinking that you are or could be (by Sauron through his humungous, creepy eye) is terrifying and that that alone can be just as paralyzing as running into an army of orcs… Just me? Didn’t think so.
To conclude… My sister and I just randomly decided to watch these movies again this week, for the thousandth time. It seems as though the more I watch these movies and think about them in a broader context, the more I am in love with what Tolkien has to say about life… (Or at least what I think he has to say):
1.) Evil is not found inherently in nature. It is of a separate origin.
2.) Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Fear is needed for power; fear is paralyzing.
3.) If you root yourself down deep in hope and faith, you cannot be touched by the darkest of evil, despite the negative occurrences in your life.
THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.
4.) Dark times always pass.
5.) Disembodied evil is the most dangerous and destructive type of evil, because it is scattered and does not have a name or a face, or even an enemy to fight with…
6.) There is much you cannot control, but that is not for you to try to control anyway. Your only responsibility is to act when and how you can, according to your heart.
7.) Your decisions, however small and seemingly inconsequential, do matter in the big scheme of things, whether or not you can see it.
8.) Death is not final.
9.) Words are powerful beyond measure.
10.) OH, AND THERE IS SOME GOOD IN THIS WORLD, MR. FRODO, AND IT’S WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
I would even argue that there is mostly good in this world.
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