Repairing bridges

We come now to our third double-portion:  "The Road to Isengard" & "Flotsam and Jetsam.". These chapters follow the aftermath of the battle of Helm's deep.  Gandalf leads Theoden and his men to Isengard.  Gandalf claims Saruman has already been defeated, and that "We go to a parley, not to a fight.".  The previous chapter ends with a forest mysteriously appearing on the plains of Rohan.  Mindful readers will recall Merry and Pippin marched to war with the Ents, who are tree-herders.  Their target was Isengard.  But has Isengard truly fallen?

These chapters are a chance for the Creative Wizard to flex his narrative muscles.  While we can discuss missed opportunities, here the narrative is laid out expertly.  If I may stray a moment to describe it:  We see Isengard from the point of view of the approaching riders, tired from war.  They notice every suspicious thing, and are afraid of creeping shadows.  They are dismayed at the Isen, which has dried up.  They are shocked when, before their very eyes, the waters return.  We see many events, but are unable to discern their purpose and source.  We, like the riders, are nervous.

Even when they arrive at Isengard and are greeted by friends, we see them from their point of view. 

 

Suddenly they were aware of two small figures lying on [the rubble] at their ease...

One seemed asleep; the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head,

leaned back against the broken rock and sent from his mouth long wisps and

little rings of thing blue smoke...  Amid all the wreck of Isengard this seemed

to them the strangest sight...  A young man he looked, or like one,

though not much more than half a man in height... 'Welcome, my lords, to Isengard!'

He said.  'We are the doorwardens.  Meriadoc, son of Saradoc, is my name."

 

Of course, the figures described are Merry and Pippin.  At this point the narrative switches to the point of view of the hobbits.  Things begin to become clearer:  Isengard has been defeated.

 

In the next chapter, Merry and Pippin describe what has happened to them since we last saw them.  In doing so, all the strange events from the previous chapter are uncovered.  The forest that appeared on the plains was sent by Treebeard to aid the Rohirrim.  The creeping shadows are Hourns (a particularly dangerous type of Ent), which were hunting any orcs that had survived.  The Isen returned to its flow because the Ents had released the dam Saruman created.  Reading the first chapter over again, it seems so obvious.  But the text is written such that, without this information, the events are mysterious and creepy.  Is Saruman still in control?  What new dangers will he unleash?   Yet with this knowledge, everything is suddenly, and simply, explained.  This is truly great writing.

 

While the first chapter follows Theoden and Gandalf on their way to Isengard, at the start of the following chapter, they leave to find Saruman among the ruins while the text sticks with the reunited friends.  In the grand scheme of things, their reunion will not affect the fate of Middle Earth.  However, we know these characters and care.  But in the end it is just flotsam and jetsam, right?

 

When students at my school have conflicts - and they do - we have a prescribed method to resolve it.  The peace path.  The child that feels hurt expresses their hurt and the other child acknowledges it.  Then the child asks "What can I do to make it right?" Many children say 'don't do [that thing] again.'. That's fine, but that doesn't fix anything.  I usually insist they request some kind of action - an apology, a hug, a high five - from the offending party.  Promising not to do something again is the minimum.  But that doesn't "make it right."

 

The imagery I use is this:  A bridge was broken between the two students.  Promising not to do that action again doesn't fix the bridge.  That requires hammers and nails and boards and cranes and screwdrivers, etc.  It's harder to fix it than to not break it again.  But in order for the promise not break it again to have any meaning, it must be fixed.  Otherwise, you still have a broken bridge.

 

The hobbits have been separated from the hunters, and now they are reunited.  But it isn't enough for them to just reunite.  They need to reestablish the bond that they had.  The whole of the chapter is about this reestablishment.  How do you reestablish a friendship?  Through chatter, through catching up.  It is flotsam and jetsam... to anyone not involved.  This will not affect the fate of Middle Earth, but that doesn't mean it isn't important.

 

There are two steps to mending any relationship, whether broken by a cruel action or by distance and time.  The first is to acknowledge that something is broken.  But it is not enough to acknowledge.  The second, and harder, step is to repair the damage.  Taking active, concrete steps to reestablish what was lost.

 

We all in our lives have experienced relationships that breakdown due to various reasons.  While some relationships are beyond fixing, and perhaps need to be severed, many good relationships also suffer problems.  Acknowledging those problems is a good first step.  But unless we work to fix what is broken, we're still only going to have a broken bridge.