 | oscargamblesfro (82)
12/12/2005 | Excellent minor character, the leader of The Woses or "Wild Men," whose people show the Rohirrim a secret way to get to Gondor. Tolkien, as a child, liked to hear stories about Native Americans, and Ghan speaks in a manner that is reminiscent of the way that Native Americans do, at least in mainstream culture: he speaks a sort of broken "Common" language. The sympathetic and noble portrayal of this figure, whose people have been mistreated (actually hunted down by the Rohirrim) seems to counter the impression that some critics have of Tolkien as a kind of racist, or too Eurocentric. Actually, if you read his posthumously published letters, Tolkien denounces Racism and Anti-Semitism quite forcefully several times. Ghan is a minor, but intriguing figure.
(3 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
