"Only Aragorn, who knew Gandalf well, remained silent and unmoved."
A very quibbling point, perhaps, but it seems worth noting that the text does not imply that each of the remaining seven members of the fellowship is throwing a fit.
Logically, "only X is both P and Q" is equivalent to "all non-X are P or Q or both." I think the rule works colloquially as well as logically. When I read this clause, I don't imagine everyone shouting at once; I imagine everyone reacting in some way while Aragorn sits there stoically.
So I think we can affirm that each other member of the company was either making noise or moved, or both. From Grice's conversational maxim of quantity, I think we can also assume that at least some members were not silent and at least some members were moved—otherwise the narrator would have phrased the statement differently. And it's difficult to imagine someone speaking up without being moved, so we can probably assume all the members of the fellowship are moved, and at least some are being vocal about it!
It's interesting that Tolkien chose the word "moved," since that's an internal description—you can be moved without showing it. Do you think Frodo went around interviewing them after the fact? "Legolas, I don't remember your reaction when Gandalf dropped that bomb. Were you cool with it?" "No way, dude; I was totally moved."
A very quibbling point, perhaps, but it seems worth noting that the text does not imply that each of the remaining seven members of the fellowship is throwing a fit.
Logically, "only X is both P and Q" is equivalent to "all non-X are P or Q or both." I think the rule works colloquially as well as logically. When I read this clause, I don't imagine everyone shouting at once; I imagine everyone reacting in some way while Aragorn sits there stoically.
So I think we can affirm that each other member of the company was either making noise or moved, or both. From Grice's conversational maxim of quantity, I think we can also assume that at least some members were not silent and at least some members were moved—otherwise the narrator would have phrased the statement differently. And it's difficult to imagine someone speaking up without being moved, so we can probably assume all the members of the fellowship are moved, and at least some are being vocal about it!
It's interesting that Tolkien chose the word "moved," since that's an internal description—you can be moved without showing it. Do you think Frodo went around interviewing them after the fact? "Legolas, I don't remember your reaction when Gandalf dropped that bomb. Were you cool with it?" "No way, dude; I was totally moved."
