(Side note: Fiskars scissors and tools divisions is headquartered in the US today, but the corporation is still Finnish. For more interesting information, read "Fiskars 1649 - 350 Years of Finnish Industrial History")
But I digress...
The evening couldn't have come at a better time. After writing yesterday's post I was getting more and more depressed about the horrific world my children are growing up in. The evening reminded me of a few things:
- Life still goes on
- Kids will always be kids (evidenced by their delight in spreading mums seeds all over creation and jabbing each other with sticks I'd just pruned from the flowering bush)
- Cats love work--they can sit and watch it out the window for hours
- Life can never be too bad when you have a warm house and a loving spouse to return to when the work is done.
- There is always going to be more work (and trouble) to deal with than we have time or ability to deal with it, so just do the best you can today and worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
- Even in the age of video games and talking toys, nothing replaces a good wheelbarrow ride.
- Even on a warm day, it's still February, and when the sun starts to go down it gets pretty darn cold!
After the kids went to bed I cocooned myself with "LOTR: The Two Towers." I didn't finish the entire thing, but I got far enough to where they are preparing for the defense of Helms Deep and fighting despair. Someday I'll have to reread the books to see if Jackson just made it up or if there was a textual basis for it, but this battle seems to be set as Aragorn's moment of truth, where he finally faces the decision to remain in the shadows or accept his destiny.
It is interesting, too, that Aragorn seems to get his lesson in leadership from King Theoden of Rohan. The more I watch the movies, the more I love Theoden above many of the others. Before the battle he is loudly proclaiming his confidence that their fortress and their men will withstand the orc invaders bearing down on them. Aragorn calls him on it, reminding him that there is little hope.
His response to Aragorn: "What would you have me do?!" The unspoken message is that if he listened to Aragorn the battle would be lost before it even began. The Rohirrim would defeat themselves before the orcs even could. Better to manufacture confidence and courage where none exists than to wallow in defeatism and hopelessness.
Though Theoden is not destined to be one of the "Great Men of the Age," he shows more heart than just about anyone in the series, including Aragorn. Perhaps this is because he is not one of the Great Men. He has no magical powers or divine commission like Gandalf. He has no prophecy and a fabled sword behind him like Aragorn. He is just a man, and one who fell prey to evil to boot. All he has is his heart, his leadership, and a desire to be more than what he has been to this point.
There is another exchange between Theoden and Aragorn earlier in the movie. Theoden is taking council from Gandalf as to what course of action to pursue. I don't remember the specific lines, as the significance of the scene just occurred to me, but Theoden makes a statement indicating that he wants to avoid war. Aragorn counters, saying that war is coming, nonetheless. Theoden fires back a reminder that Aragorn is not the king of Rohan.
At the time I took the statement at face value, that Theoden did not appreciate Aragorn's criticism. But after consideration, I suspect there is a great deal of subtext in the exchange. Aragorn is supposedly destined to become The king of men, and yet he has largely avoided this destiny his entire life. Perhaps Theoden is saying that he (Theoden) has accepted his responsibility as king and has little respect for the advice of someone who has avoided theirs.
And I think the criticism strikes a chord with Aragorn. Though it still takes him awhile, I think he starts waking up and accepting his role at this point. I think it takes the "mere man" of Theoden to show the larger-than-life Aragorn how to be king.
Just like it takes Eowyn, Theoden's daughter, to show Aragorn how to be a man. But that's another story for another time.
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