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The One Ring Forums:
Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
Denethor the tragic character:
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noWizardme
Gondolin
Tue, 9:48am
Views: 1227
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Denethor the tragic character
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I very much agree Denethor is tragic. And in a specific way. In some tragedies the storyteller interests us in a nice character and we watch appaluled, fascinated or otherwise entertained as the Steamroller of Fate crushes them. In this kind, whatever agency the character has, they don't have any possible escape from the steamroller.
But I don't see Denethor like that. I see Denethor as tragic in the sense that his character is partly how his fate is delivered to him. Partly, not entirely. But he had choices. He is given opportunities to avoid the fate of death by suicide, but does not (and I'm going to argue that as a matter of personality he cannot) take them.
We see that Denethor makes mistakes, like the other despairing characters who think they know all ends. Flipping Prof Freedman's comment on bad strategy ("Most of my work has been in the military sphere where bad strategy invariably involves underestimation of opponents and overestimation of one’s own capabilities.") Denethor overestimates his opponent and underestimates his own side's capabilities. He's seen the overwhelming conventional forces Sauron has, but these become irellevant if the Ring is destroyed. If he also saw Frodo apparently dead or captured in the Palantir, then that is also not what it looks like. Tactically, he does not realise that the approaching fleet of Corsair ships is a relief force. Faramir can be cured.
I think Denethor also fits, but in an odd way since he concludes he can't win, Prof Freedman's comment "these problems are aggravated with commanders who are too self-confident and fail to listen to take advice or ask the right questions of their subordinates".
And - before I go any further, - of course we can feel sorry for Denethor. For most of his Stewardship he has led Gondor well. He's a throwback to the old Numenorean bloodlines and has some of those inheritable powers (something a lot of peoeple liked about him when we did the Denethor character discussion). We can feel sorry he's had a bad time, and see how that has helped bring him down. Bereavement when his wife died seems to have driven him indoors to brood and doomscroll on the palantir. He blames himself for the death of his favourite son, and only belatedly realises how much he loves the son who is a better man than Denethor is himself (something I beleive Denethor has not previously been able to bring himself to admit, hence continuing to chop Faramir down to a less threatening size). And that's an important part of tragedy too - we need to like or be somehow fascinated by the character for it to feel tragic. Compare Sauron - his fall does not (in the time-frame of LOTR) seem tragic to me.
(Go further back in time and of course you can see Sauron as a character who could have worked out a lot better, but didn't).
Denethor's fatal character flaw is that he competes with people excessively. He competed with Thorongil. We see him competing with Gandalf. We don't see him much with his Council, but I'll guess that tall poppy syndrome very much works there. He competes with Faramir (to whom, Gandalf says, he is more alike than he realises).
Overly-competitive people so often get into positions of power that I assume everyone has personally experienced one or more. Of course their competitive drive gives them energy to rise up any greasy pole*. To an extent their drive to compete is a bonus for the organisation in which they rise: they can be very motivated to do a good job, though often in a flashy look-at-me kind of way. The downside is them using the power they aquire to further their competitive instincts: keeping rivals down, or "deciding on a course of action that will not only fail to achieve its stated intent but will have negative consequences that far exceed the positive" (Prof Freedman again). And often (though not in Denethor's case as far as I know) corruption. What's going wrong here is to use the power of leadership to pursue personal goals rather than organisational ones
And a further flaw of the overly-competitive is an inability to cope with not winning.
And that is specifically why Denethor choses death by immolation rather than to do as Gandalf urges - come out to the front line lead the defence of his city, and fall in battle if that may be; or survive to hand over the power to the returning King, as is the function of a Steward. But, what Denethor knows or guess about Aragorn makes him see a "Ranger from the North" brought up by Gandalf to "supplant me". And so while Faramir sees the Return of the King being the glad event for which we've always hoped, and no threat whatsoever to the Steward's dignity of purpose (correct), Denethor is seeing Aragorn as a rival for personal rule. Like Saruman, "He will not serve, only command." (Gandalf regretting the other person he can't get back from personal ambition, in The Voice of Saruman.
And thus both Saruman and Denethor have betrayed their offices.
And both endd up taking a sport of petty revenge on reality when they can't have their way- Denethor on his own body, Saruman by trying to ruin The Shire.
I realise I've made the point about Denethor going against the entire point of Stewardship before (nine years ago, my goodness!), and again when we did those character studies in 2023 ("I think there is an important concept of service") But it's an important point, I think.
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* This does not apply to Denethor exactly, since he inherited his office and would have it regardless of his personality
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
(This post was edited by Inferno on Tue, 4:32pm)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by noWizardme
(Gondolin) on Tue, 9:49am
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Post edited by noWizardme
(Gondolin) on Tue, 9:52am
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Post edited by noWizardme
(Gondolin) on Tue, 9:53am
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Post edited by Inferno
(Superuser) on Tue, 4:32pm
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