The Lord of the Rings: The Voice of Saruman (Part Two)

 

The Tale

‘Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves. When others spoke they seemed harsh and uncouth by contrast; and if they gainsaid the voice, anger was kindled in the hearts of those under the spell. For some the spell lasted only while the voice spoke to them, and when it spoke to another they smiled, as men do who see through a juggler’s trick while others gape at it. For many the sound of the voice alone was enough to hold them enthralled; but for those whom it conquered the spell endured when they were far away, and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them. But none were unmoved; none rejected its pleas and its commands without an effort of mind and will, so long as its master had control of it.’

Bits and Bobs

I wanted to set this paragraph alone here to examine for a moment the power and significance of ‘the voice of Saruman.’ I think it was Tom Shippey who pointed out just how modern the mode of Saruman’s speaking, as opposed to the archaic speech of say, Theoden, or even the old-fashioned Victorian/Edwardian voice of the Hobbits. It is very similar to the contemporary speech of politicians and journalists, who all too often seek to put a spin on what has happened, especially if it has been an embarrassing failure. George Orwell, in his 1949 novel 1984, called it  Newspeak, ‘ambiguous euphemistic language used chiefly in political propaganda.’  

But G. K. Chesterton had already noticed the tendency in the Thirties: “Most Eugenists are Euphemists. I mean merely that short words startle them, while long words soothe them. And they are utterly incapable of translating the one into the other, however obviously they mean the same thing. Say to them 'The persuasive and even coercive powers of the citizen should enable him to make sure that the burden of longevity in the previous generation does not become disproportionate and intolerable, especially to the females'; say this to them and they will sway slightly to and fro like babies sent to sleep in cradles. Say to them 'Murder your mother,' and they sit up quite suddenly. Yet the two sentences, in cold logic, are exactly the same.”

― G.K. Chesterton, Eugenics and Other Evils : An Argument Against the Scientifically Organized State