Re: the fox in FOTR

Matthew Woodcraft <mattheww@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<snip>

But the narrator does often show us what other characters are thinking
or feeling. There are the rare lines where we are given non-hobbit
characters' thoughts directly. More often the narrator tells us
clearly but indirectly: <<For a while he sat with unseeing eyes as if
walking in distant memory or listening to sounds in the Night far
away.>> The 'as if' is a bit of a fig-leaf here.

"Bit of a fig-leaf"? - what does that mean?

Two of my favourite examples of character emotion are also from Aragorn
(the example you gave never really stuck in my mind like these two did):

"Aragorn sat with his head bowed to his knees; only Elrond knew fully
what this hour meant to him." (The Ring Goes South)

[I'm not sure if this is going inside Aragorn's head, or Elrond's, or
both.]

"...he turned and looked away to the North under the great stars, and
then he fell silent and spoke no more while the night's journey lasted."
(The Passing of the Grey Company)

[This is a case where we are told no more than any objective observer
would, but the narrator draws our attention to this silence, thus making
it speak volumes about Aragorn's feelings for the Lady of Rivendell who
had sent him the flag that Halbarad bore.]

Like the example you give, these are indirect. Not the characters
thoughts directly, but made very clear by the words used.

I can also think of an example from Gandalf, a brief expanding on what
he can see, also using the "as if" construction:

"He rose and gazed out eastward, shading his eyes, as if he saw things
far away that none of them could see." (The White Rider)

[An objective observer would wonder what Gandalf was looking at - the
narrator kindly tells us that he is looking a _long_ way off, into the
distance, and Gandalf's words then imply that what he has seen has told
him that the Ring has gone beyond their reach.]

None of this, of course, applies to that silly fox! :-)

Though there are, of course, TWO foxes in LotR (unless they are the same
one). Anyone like to guess where the SECOND fox appears? :-)

Christopher

--
---
Reply clue: Saruman welcomes you to Spamgard

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: [WR (no, really)] Possible Rise of An Author
    ... to crippling problems (flat characters, lack of a clear plot, sucky ... writing, bein' more boring than a boring, boring, thing, etc.), I ... Other characters besides the narrator ... the Dark Chocolate from this Welcome Basket. ...
    (misc.writing)
  • Re: Omniscient POV books
    ... addition from time to time characters look at the camera and explain ... nominally for the benefit of persians or non spartan greeks. ... The omniscient narrator always speaks in the voice of someone shouting ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: REVIEW: Russells Reviews Volume One # 2
    ... Thanks for the review, Tom! ... fictional characters, especially since those fictional ... details would make them less parodies and more ... In addition to eliminating that nagging feeling that I'm ...
    (rec.arts.comics.creative)
  • Re: ntext word boundary detection
    ... but let me say that I have the very same feeling reading ... characters and what the difference between those two classes might be, ... P.S. Don't mean any disrespect to Keith or ntext; ...
    (comp.lang.tcl)
  • Re: Upstairs--Third Person narration
    ... They have stock characters, stero types, plot ... Third-person narrative ... This style of narrator is similar to the first person narrator, ... An omniscient narrator, as in more limited third-person forms, is also ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)