is not from the realm of Middle-Earth. He is one of the five wizards sent to Middle-Earth. Wizards in this universe work much like archeangels in Catholicism. Gandalf is sent to specifically help destroy the ring of power and restore the hierarchy. He brings a spiritual aspect of divine right to destroy The Ring. The very ring that could help other groups, such as the Orcs, gain some sense of equality. His adamant support of Aragorn’s right to ascend to the King of Man affirms the belief that one can only be born into a position of power and people like Boromir have no right to try to better their position in life. (Boromir being the son of the Steward of Gondor where Aragorn is supposed to rule. Boromir often argues to use the power of The Ring to fight the Orcs off. His act of grabbing such power is presented in a negative light, implying his move to lead his people is an unordained move). The result of Gandalf, a spiritual being, reinforcing the hierarchy makes him a major influence in how the fellowship functions. If Tolkien were to write this along the lines of the messages of Owen and Sassoon the fellowship would revolt against those with privileged power such as, Gandalf and Elrond (a powerful Elf who possesses one of the three powerful Elven rings distributed by Sauron), for sending them on such a quest. In addition, Sam would in some way become an equal or be ‘promoted’ to a higher position in the fellowship for all of his efforts. This is the exact situation that the officers who gained their positions due to their class status were afraid of from the hard-working lower classes who worked their way up to officer. The fellowship in no way distinguish themselves from such fear as they make no attempts of breaking the social order.
The “Othering” effect on Orcs
The only time in The Fellowship of the Ring the Orcs are physically present is in the Mines of Moria. They appear in large numbers and are in direct conflict with the fellowship, initiating the violence; thus resulting in the Orcs holding resemblance to the evils of World War I that Tolkien experienced along with Owen and Sassoon on the front lines. This instantly designates them as the one-dimensional ‘other’ that the fellowship have to defeat. The fellowship being small in number allows for personalization of the fellowship members, giving the reader knowledge of their names and ranks thereby creating an invested interest in their livelihood.
The fellowship and the Orcs relationship mirrors the “Us and Them” mentality in Siegfried Sassoon’s Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man. At the time George Sherston enlists in the war there is a clear distinction between the higher class of officers and those who worked to be promoted to the rank of officer. The higher classes’ uniforms distinguished them from officers that were of lower class. Those of lower classes had cheaper yellow shirts and those of the upper crust were able to purchase higher quality material thereby visually representing class status in the midst of war. Those of lower ranks of the British WWI army are referred to as NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers), they are acknowledged only in large numbers and never given specific titles or names. This created a gap between the classes. Tolkien does not escape this mentality in his fantasy world between the fellowship and the Orcs. The Orcs are designed to be the lower, nameless class like the NCOs and the fellowship embody the personalized higher class officers. Just like how the officers condemned the NCOs’ ability to climb up the social hierarchy to become officers, so does the fellowship oppress the Orcs in their attempt to gain advancement in Middle-Earth. Tolkien is then continually enforcing the Orcs being lesser than the fellowship in a similar way in which he would have observed oppression of lower class NCOs.
Tolkien persists on the dehumanization of the Orcs through the hellish physical mutilation of the race. This is similar to descriptions of the tragic injuries endured by many soldiers in World War I as represented in the poetry by Owen and Sassoon