Philosophical Ramblings

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, Isengard is a mighty fortress ordered by the powerful wizard Saruman the White. It is surrounded by a ringed wall with the tower of Orthanc as its central feature overlooking the plain below and the vast forest of Fangorn in the distance rising up to the dazzling white peaks above. Over time, Saruman is corrupted and his ambitions turn toward empire and power. The Wizard maintains that: “There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means,” essentialy claiming that his intentions are pure and remain unmodifitied, despite his engagement in different means to acheive the same intended outcomes. As a member of the Order of Istari, the means with which Saruman should have engaged in to achieve the designs of the Order were counsel and guidance – primarily raising awareness of the truth so as to stimulate a revolution of consciousness. However, Saruman chooses the different means of instigating force and fear in order to achieve his own dark ambitions of imperial power. In the novel, these ambitions and the means of force and fear which Saruman uses to achieve them, lead to mass environmental degradation and the abuse and perversion of the natural order, which is ultimately punished by the breaking of Saruman’s power in the fury of nature itself.

The lessons dervived from the Industry at Isengard are profoundly relevant to our modern civilization, particularly when contemplating the effect of the relationship between industry, empire and nature, and the transformation of our society and the mind to a state of mechanization. The lessons from this story teach us of the causes and consequences of unchecked consumerism and the environmental devastation that results from it. The narrative also teaches us to view the natural order as broader than its usefulness as a resource for industry, and it further portrays the human pursuit for power and glory to be an utter vainity in the face of the greater cosmic narrative and the vast scope of nature itself.

The story of Saruman’s empire at Isengard illustrates how an insatiable lust for power extending into vapid consumerism can drain the world of its natural beauty and deplete it of its natural wealth, leaving a starkly barren and devastated wasteland; a landscape that is both dull and mundane and inhsopitable to life. The deforestation of Fangorn to fuel the furnances of Saruman’s industry is a demonstration of this. In The Fellowship of the Ring, from atop Orthanc, Gandalf describes that whereas Isengard “had once been green and fair, it was now filled with pits and forges … Over all his works a dark smoke hung and wrapped itself about the sides of Orthanc.”  Tolkien presents this insatiable consumerism for power to be utterfly unsustainable for it causes the degradation of the “green and fair” and the depletion of natural resources. In this way, Tolkien critques the sustainability of industrial consumerism in modern civilization.

The story of Isengard also represents the view that nature is merely a utility; a perspective that is itself narrow and closes itself from the appreciation of the beauty of the natural world as the ultimate artwork of the Divine Creator. Saruman seems to possess this limited understanding, as indicated by the comments of the Ent Treebeard who remarks: “He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except insofar as they serve him for the moment.” This perspective looks at a tree as nothing more than fuel. It fails to see any beauty in it. A flower is not appreciated for its colour or texture, but rather for the possibility of oil. According to this understanding, the natural world only becomes relevant when deemed useful, or otherwise no focus is placed upon it and no appreciation directed towards it, and especially no inkling of perservation considered.

Tolkien does not let the story end with Saruman’s abuse of the natural order going unpunished. The consequences of Saruman’s unchecked exploitation of nature are the direct result of Isengard’s downfall. Nature, represented by the mighty Ents, battles Saruman’s monopoly of resources and ultimately defeats him, literally washing away his empire in a display of nature’s fury. The image here suggests that in the face of nature, human pursuit for capital empire is vain and even if acheived will only exist temporarily, ultimately destined to fall into decay and ruin, either by the force of human intervention or by the actions of the natural agents.

The story of the Industry at Isengard is ultimately a lesson to modern society of the destructive and unsustainable effects of an industrial culture that consumes the earth with no consideration of perserving both natural beauty and wealth for future generations of humanity. It is a story that reflects the vanity of sacrificing the natural world for the benefit of some temporary empire destined to decay. It is a story of scrutiny that bids its readers to question our industrial practices, and even our very attitude to nature itself. A story which does not glorify nature to a divine status, but highlights its importance in our daily lives and its relevance to both our past, present and future.