January 10, 2002

Re: Why the Book Cannot Be Perfect
Peter C.

I agree with just about everything the other guy said about LotR, but regarding Bombadil - I believe Tolkien put him in to show the indifference of a part of the world and the desperate plight that the free world is in.

Bombadil couldn't care less is Sauron took over Middle-Earth, or else thinks he wouldn't. He's happy in his own little realm; "gone native" as Robert Foster so eloquently puts it. If Sauron were to triumph, he would be the last to fall, or else, in the twilight of the world, fell Sauron after all else is dead.

The Free people thus are compelled to destroy the Ring, as they cannnot hide it forever.

This is the point which I think Tolkien has made, albeit rather veiled.

Or maybe I'm all wet and Bombadil really doesn't have a point for being in the book at all. Either way, Jackson has left him out and we can't do a single thing about it.