Episode 161 Summary

Tony Meade

Active Member
SESSION 161

Making a speech long rehearsed:
  • There are flaws in Saruman’s performance of this speech that give his true intentions away.
  • The use of the word “declaim” implies an impersonality and is usually done in front of a crowd.
  • Saruman’s use of this mode of speech creates a cognitive dissonance when delivered one-on-one to Gandalf, which belies an insincerity and a desire to manipulate.
  • The use of “Elder Days” is common among the Wise, but the use of “Younger Days” for the time of the dominion of Men is a departure from the thinking of the Wise.
  • Among the Wise, there has always been an idea that the Ages are in a kind of decline from the original conception of the World, so imagining the new age as one of opportunity us unusual.
  • There has been a consistent sadness about the ending of the current age, such as Sam’s feelings about the departure of the Elves, but Saruman seems to be happy for the old world to end.
  • Saruman appeals to those in favor of the progress of technology, as will his followers. There is also an implication that the presence of the Elves has hindered the Wizards until this point.
  • It’s not clear what Saruman wants to accomplish by placing doubt in the Elves and Numenoreans, aside from casting doubt on them for the benefit to his own power.
  • In the context of this long-rehearsed speech, Saruman may or may not actually intend to convince Gandalf, or merely to express his own sense of superiority to the other Wise.
  • Saruman may be attempting to convince himself that he at least gave Gandalf the chance.
The world of Men, which we must rule:
  • Saruman twists the idea of Men ruling into their need of being ruled by the Wizards instead.
  • He seems to assume that their need to rule Men is obvious and doesn’t need to be justified.
  • Saruman seems to be calling into question the entire role of the Wizards that Gandalf accepts, instead asserting that their real job is steward the world into the new age by their wisdom.
  • This series of assumptions seems designed to wrong-foot Gandalf out of being able to respond.
  • There is a question of where this imperative for them to rule is coming from if the power to do so that doesn’t already exist, but Saruman only insists on its necessity, not its practicality.
  • Saruman is coming from an assumption that the nature of the World, as it has been left by the Powers and the Elves, needs their wisdom to achieve the order that it has never had.
  • He also seems to imply that Men need to be ruled because of their inferiority to the Wizards.
  • Power is stated to be the means to the end, not the end itself, and this is the justification.
  • This is not only for the good of Men, but for the new age of the World in general, and this justifies abrogating the freedoms and well-being of Men in order to do that, no matter the cost.
  • Note: The text’s stand against all totalitarianism has caused it to be banned in certain countries.
  • Note: In the films, Saruman’s battle seems to be directly against the race of Men, while in the book the battle is about power over those who he considers disorderly, regardless of race.
Speaking now in a softer voice:
  • While the first section of the speech was clearly rehearsed, the tonal shift in the second part becomes more personal and like an appeal, while the first was merely declaration of intent.
  • He seems to have rehearsed this transition, but his appeal to Gandalf as “friend and helper” is undermined by his earlier accusations of treachery and an unwillingness to collaborate.
  • Gandalf is taking some care to repeat Saruman’s words as close to verbatim as possible, as this will save him any doubt or questions as to his true intentions, before deciding about the Ring.
  • Gandalf is also not against using theatricality and drama to convey the meaning of his story.
  • While it’s important for everyone at the Council to know about Saruman, there are no decisions to be made directly about him at this time, except for where it impacts the quest of the Ring.
  • Saruman’s reputation is also to great among the Wise to be sullied without any proofs given.
  • Shifting to a personal mode is a rhetorical ploy, as if he is allowing Gandalf inside his thoughts.
  • The change from “before you” to “before us” is probably a slip, as following this the entire proposition is made as for them together, but “you” reveals that he has already chosen.
  • Saruman understands that it will be extremely difficult to sell Gandalf on the idea of joining with Sauron, especially considering that Saruman’s role as White Wizard is to oppose Sauron.
  • Saruman shifts from speaking about Sauron as the Enemy to the Power, and as a new Power.
  • This answers the question as to where the power for the Wizards to rule will come from.
  • By depersonalizing Sauron into simply a power, he attempts to remove the personal objection to allying with Sauron, as if this Power has no will of its own, but something to be harnessed.
  • This is in dissonance with the idea that the Power would reward those that aid in its aims.
  • There is also a sense that he is attempting to blunt the horror of this proposition by speaking in abstractions, though he can’t imagine that doing so will conceal Sauron’s identity from Gandalf.
  • Saruman doesn’t avoid Sauron’s name out of shame or acquiescence, but rather to separate Sauron’s power from Sauron’s identity, so they are not joining Sauron, only using his power.
  • Note: This is parallel to Sauron’s seeming surrender to Númenor, after which he was able to come to direct its courses and to control it to his own ends. Therefore, while there is hubris in Saruman’s notion of controlling or overthrowing Sauron using his own tactics, but Sauron’s power greatness is greatly declined since the height of his power in the Second Age.
  • There is certainly an undercurrent of this becoming Saruman’s own power running through this, and if he were to have this power, then the same rewards would be in his hands to give.
  • There is also an assumption that this power is ultimately transferrable through the Ring itself.
The high and ultimate purpose:
  • The use of the word Knowledge instead Wisdom is significant, as it is a resource that can be used, rather than something that one must possess internally.
  • The three ends, Knowledge, Rule, and Order are granted by those with Wisdom, not to them.
  • This also implies that those who are fools are doomed to remain fools, and not become Wise.
  • While all three of these ideas are good things in their nature, but they are means to benefit others and the greater world, not ends unto themselves for which all means are acceptable.
  • Note: A consistent theme in Tolkien’s worldview is the relationship between means and ends.
  • Saruman deliberately misuses the word “deplore”, as if they did genuinely deplore those evils done by the way, they would not allow them to continue through inaction or acquiescence.
  • Note: Saruman’s appeal to allow any means in the pursuit of good ends is a folly that many have fallen into throughout history, and Tolkien is clear about how and why this is foolish. He is also clear that this way of thinking leads to means becoming ends themselves, leading nowhere.
  • There is also a sense that each of these three things leads to the next, as if it were a recipe. However, if Order is the final result, this is still only a means, not an end.
  • Note: Melkor is associated with the idea of chaos, which Tolkien said was a means to his primary nihilism, while Sauron was devoted to order and control, and saw Melkor as a means of power through which he could establish that order in the world, much like Saruman sees Sauron. However, as Sauron progressed along the same path as Morgoth, he began to abandon the end of order, and his destructiveness became more of the end in itself, mirroring Melkor’s nihilism.
  • Saruman is not using “policies” in the modern connotation of a written code of behavior, but more in the sense of the overarching approach to making decisions and future plans.
END OF SESSION
 

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