Madison McHenry
Professor Gaither
Created and Called for Community
7 June 2018
Living in Community
It is easy to think you can go through life alone and try to seclude yourself from the rest of the world. It is also tempting to succumb to the mind's preoccupations or to otherwise become so consumed by personal needs that it really does not feel important to talk to others and tend to their needs. However, this simply cannot be; we are called to live in community with others. In the story "Leaf by Niggle," J. R. R. Tolkien weaves a curious story of an older man, Niggle, who becomes so consumed with his individual work that he pays little attention to his neighbors and other duties, but ultimately leads a less happy life because of it. This idea is one that much of the audience can relate to, even if the nature of the story is different than the world they are used to. The story Tolkien chose to write makes the hard-to-hear life lesson more approachable, palatable, and understandable. By using his fantasy world as the setting for the setting for "Leaf by Niggle," the audience is able to better understand Tolkien's central theme: living in community with others provides us with richer experiences and a more productive, fulfilling life.
At the beginning of the story, Niggle lives largely alone. Absorbed in trying to complete his large painting before having to make a journey, Niggle rarely leaves his home and calls any visits from others "inconveniences." On one occasion, his neighbor, Parish, comes to visit and ask for some help—Parish's house is in ill-repair, his leg is in pain, and his wife is ill—and while Niggle does eventually help, it is not without hesitation and a great deal of resentment. The text talks frequently about Niggle's desire for Parish, or anyone really, to praise his painting, from saying, "What [Niggle] would have liked at the moment would have been to see himself walk in, and slap him on the back, and say (with obvious sincerity): 'Absolutely magnificent! I see exactly what you are getting at. Do get on with it and don't bother about anything else!'" (Tolkien 72-73), to saying, "When Parish looked at Niggle's garden (which was often) he saw mostly weeds; and when he looked at Niggle's pictures (which was seldom) he saw only green and grey patches and black lines… [and] he refrained from giving any opinion of the pictures" (Tolkien 74). He thinks frequently of his own achievements and spends very little time considering the condition of others. He even has to be told, "You should have helped your neighbor…That is the law" (Tolkien 77-78) at one point in the story, and only after being told that it was illegal to not be helping did he consider that he should have gone further out of his way to aid his neighbor. This tendency towards selfish thought and the idea that his passion and wellbeing were more important than any of his neighbors' created a great sense of unrest in him and a craving for the approval of others that he could not receive.
It later becomes time for Niggle to make his "journey," and after spending a great deal of time waiting to find out where his destination will be and listening as two voices weigh his virtues and deeds, it becomes clear that the journey was really his death and that he is waiting in a sort of purgatory to know if he is allowed into heaven. The two voices have a great deal of trouble deciding if Niggle should be allowed to receive what they call the "gentle treatment," but Niggle does move on to a sort of paradise, and he remains there alone for some time until being joined by Parish. The two spend joyous days together and make their paradise more beautiful together than they ever could separately. Their collaboration is described: "They went on living and working together: I do not know how long… Niggle would think of wonderful new flowers and plants, and Parish always knew exactly how to set them and where they would do best" (Tolkien 88). Each person brought something different to the table, and only in working together did their world truly work. In life, Niggle toiled endlessly at his painting, always feeling like it was missing something, and he was never able to be satisfied with his work. Likewise, Parish was rather invested in his garden, but he was never a very happy man. They were not able to find satisfaction until they lived together in community and began to consider each other's needs instead of just their own.
Even though Tolkien's work is just a fantasy story, it echoes a reality and allows the audience to process and access its real-life lessons more easily. In an article from Circle Institute, Andrew Seeley writes about Tolkien's intentions and his "sub-creations." The term "sub-creating" is one that Tolkien used himself, with the idea being that we are living God's creation, and anything we make within that, especially stories about other worlds, is just a sub-creation. Seeley's piece states, "Tolkien, sub-creator par excellence, who shared the passion of…author and maker, no doubt experienced…the central temptation—to cling to the product as one's own. He must have wondered to what extent his passion, so central to his being, was a matter of pride or an inspiration from God" (Seeley). If his creations are based in inspiration from God, then his pieces ring with truths from this world, and his pieces would certainly carry some truths that are necessary to hear. The same article also suggests that, "The Fantastic author must enchant his reader into believing his world and his story matter deeply. He must create an imagined world which is desirable and believable" (Seeley). Reading something in the fantasy genre to many is more desirable. There is a sense of dissociation from the characters that allows the audience to think more thoughtfully about the meaning without the person feeling like it is critiquing his or herself personally. A great fantasy story also puts real life themes and ideas into fantastical worlds so that the reader can absorb the ideas better, without their own preconceived ideas clogging their minds. The idea of "Leaf by Niggle," that Niggle and Parish lived more satisfying and fulfilling lives when they collaborated and lived side by side, echoes a reality; we are not called to live alone and to merely consider our own needs, but we are instead called to live in community with others and help those in need. Tolkien putting this idea into a light-hearted, easily palatable story means that the meaning behind is easier to digest and therefore can reach more people.
There are some things that are just harder to understand, especially as humans so tempted by sin and our own ideas of what will make us happy. In a piece by Dorothy L. Sayers called "The Image of God," human kind's need to use metaphors to express things we cannot understand is spoken about in detail. Sayers talks about the way God is referred to as "King" and "Father" when these words do not necessarily describe him accurately. The words are just more familiar, so they are used to explain something humans are otherwise unequipped to. Sayers goes on to say, "Our minds are not infinite" (Sayer), meaning that there are just some things that are beyond comprehension and that metaphors helps understanding. Similarly, Tolkien uses the extended metaphor of Niggle and his journey to underline a point that can otherwise be hard to understand. People tend to occupy their minds with what they decide will make them happy and to focus far less on what actually leads to lasting happiness. For instance, a person might not think that he or she needs community to thrive, but in reality it is incredibly important. By reading a story, a metaphor for this problem, a person is able to understand it, if only a little bit better.
Tolkien has famously written many fantasy stories, so it's easy to write them off as just that. However, all of his stories' whimsy and characters allow for deeper truths to be told and for the audience to gather understanding that would otherwise be hard to. A closer look at "Leaf by Niggle" reveals a story about the importance of community, and how living in harmony with different people can actually allow for richer, more fulfilling life experiences.
Works Cited
Sayers, Dorothy. The Mind of the Maker. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1941. Ch.
2: “The Image of God.” http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/dlsayers/mindofmaker/
mind.02.htm
In Sayer's piece, "The Image of God," she talks some about what it means to be created in God's image when he himself doesn't have a body. She talks then about our need to put everything spiritual into analogies because we can only speak about what we know, and these metaphors make it easier to understand something we're otherwise unequipped to. For instance, we refer to God as King and Father because that is what we understand.
Seeley, Andrew. “Tolkien, Faeries, and Creation” Circe Institute blog post (April 25, 2012).
https://www.circeinstitute.org/blog/tolkien-faeries-and-creation-featured-article
In his article for the Circe Institute, Andrew Seeley examines Tolkien's stories, especially "Leaf by Niggle." All of Tolkien's stories are fantasy, but the fantasy worlds are crucial to our understanding of the stories' true meaning. The fantastic worlds allow for dissociation, which in turn allows for the audience to think critically about the tales. Seeley also talks about how writing in these fantasy realms takes away the limitations of our world. Finally, Seeley shares that Tolkien's creativity was inspired by God, and this inspiration is evident in everything he made.
Tolkien, J. R. R. “Leaf by Niggle.” Created and Called for Community, edited by LaGrand,
James, et al, Messiah College, 2017, pp. 71-93.
"Leaf by Niggle" tells the story of an old painter, Niggle, and his neighbor, Parish. Niggle is prolonging his preparations for a "long journey" (which the audience later comes to understand as death) and is so rapt by one particular painting of his that he has no relationship with anyone else in the town, even Parish. Only in the afterlife does Niggle finally come to know and appreciate Parish, and only there does he understand how important community and love are.