The story goes that Lewis and Tolkien disagreed on whether evil could be overcome by sheer force of reason. Lewis believed you could, and showed as much in The Screwtape Letters. Reason’s power over evil is a central presupposition to that narrative; the reader can handle the demons’ correspondence and see the faults in their arguments.
Tolkien differed on this central point. The story goes, Tolkien disapproved when Lewis dedicated Screwtape to him. A dedication always seemed very personal to me – I hope they resolved their issue as friends. Tolkien showed his differing philosophy in his books. In Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the villains, though powerful and evil, never take center stage in the narrative. Unlike the Jackson movies, there are no scenes from the villains’ point of view. In particular, there’s a scene in which the sound of Saruman’s voice alone is tempting and must be overcome by the heroes – before even considering the content of the evil wizard’s words. In this way, Screwtape is on the complete opposite end of a spectrum – the whole book is told from the demons’ point of view, and listening to their words is essential to overcoming evil.
I tend to side with Tolkien on this one, at least in the case of portraying purely evil characters as the hero of the narrative. I like Screwtape, but I don’t believe Lewis was correct – reason cannot save us from evil. More often than not, people use reason to justify their perversions and evil beliefs. I differ from Tolkien’s philosophy in one respect. I find the hobbits a little too good, pure, and blameless as heroes. They are well and tempted, but seldom do we see their internal faults or, as the Protestants put it, their fallen nature. I prefer heroes who have a bit more changing to do – who are more evil all on their own.
P.S. I have not found documentation confirming the Lewis-Tolkien story. If you know where I can verify it, please let me know!
Phil Gross, Game Designer 