Wednesday, September 22, 2021

The Existence of Dyscatastrophe

Haven't read the book (and probably won't), but this tweet calls to mind something I read in Lapham's Quarterly recently. It was in a note at the end of a brief entry of comments by J.R.R. Tolkien on the "consolation" of fairy tales.  Let me give you the last paragraph of Tolkien as quoted in Lapham's, because it will set up the reference to Thiel quite clearly.

The consolation of fairy stories, the joy of the happy ending, or more correctly of the good catastrophe, the sudden joyous "turn" (for there is no true end to any fairy tale); this joy, which is one of the things which fairy stories can produce supremely well, is not essentially "escapist," nor "fugitive."  In its fairy tale--or otherworld--setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace, never to be counted on to recur.  It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure.  T/he possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of such evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelism,* giving a fleeting glimpse of joy; joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.

Following that and a brief biographical note on Tolkien, comes this:

In a 2008 interview, the venture capitalist Peter Thiel was asked how he became a libertarian.  Thiel cited The Lord of the Rings, believing it to show that an ideal world has maximum freedom, allowing for the "greatest amount of human prosperity and happiness and ultimately achievement."**

I don't think Thiel understood Sauron was the antagonist, not the protagonist.

I'm not a big fan of Elon Musk, but that doesn't mean he can't have a valid insight now and again.


*No, not the American form and almost denomination of Christianity, but the older use of that Christian word:  message of the good news. 


**Lapham's Quarterly, "Happiness," Spring 2019, "Oxford," p. 106.


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