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The Rebel  by Lindelea 1 Review(s)
FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 7 on 9/29/2003
You know, I almost included this in the reveiw of last chapter, but I thought it was too much of a stretch, and might offend someone. Then I re-read the notes at the beginning of the story, and I realized that it doesn't matter if if offends someone, and it fits perfectly.

What the behaviour of the hobbits of the town reminded me of, was the description I have heard of how people behaved during the Nazi occupation, as the Jews and other 'undesirables' were arrested, and murdered. Have you ever read the poem "The Hangman" by Maurice Ogden? I first heard it when I was a teenager, and it is haunting. "Into our town the Hangman came, smelling of gold and blood and flame. And he paced our bricks with a diffident air. And built his frame on the courthouse square..."

I don't mean that your story (or Tolkien's either) is an allegory for World War II - many tried to make that connection during his lifetime, and he rejected the charge of allegory every time. It doesn't deny, however, the applicability of the concepts in the story to the situation then or now. Hobbits are a simple people, and thus should have less trouble than we in recognizing evil when it appears before them. Perhaps, because of their innocence, they have more of an excuse for not knowing what to do once the troubles started. But there were plenty enough hobbits in the Shire to have driven out the ruffians, if they hadn't been too scared to act. Merry and Pippin really forced the issue, by challenging the ruffians publically in Bywater - the confrontation couldn't be escaped then.

This is the dark part of the story. I hope the travelers return soon to rescue them.

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