Alex Gonzalez’s Reviews > A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18 > Status Update

Tolkien and Lewis argue that power can be a slope to corruption, and that evil typically manifests as a gradual process of perversion. (Rationalizing bad actions for the common good) Their mythologies attempt to also take a middle path between pacifism, militarism, and cynicism where a slight return to chivalric values of humility, mercy, and valor as vital to resisting evil in our hearts and institutions.

The intellectual consequences of WW1 created a breeding ground for disillusionment; this extended both in the spiritual and religious landscape in Europe, with morality replaced by ideologies of Atheistic Communism, Fascism, and other attempts to redefine the relationships of man. Tolkien and Lewis cultivated faith through myth, imbuing their stories with inspirational hope. This was to point to strength and virtue.

I’ve personally enjoyed learning about the “myth of progress” and how this influenced the cultural landscape of Europe before the war, but in my reading for today the courage expressed by Tolkien and Lewis in response to the tragedy of WW1 around them was nothing less than inspirational. They looked upon the world wrought with destruction and rejected emerging cynicism that arose from soldiers using fantasy.