A Seed and a Gardener

Tolkien's View of Nature Versus Nurture and What Changes a Person

What makes a human being change and shapes us into who we are? Is it our innate biology? Or is it the result of our own conscious choices? Is it nature? Or nurture?

In a letter replying to W.H. Auden's review of The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien shares his view of human nature and provides his answers to many of the above questions by comparing a human being at once to a seed and to a gardener:

I do not feel that a journey in space is a useful comparison for understanding these processes. I think that comparison with a seed is more illuminating: a seed with its innate vitality and heredity, its capacity to grow and develop. A great part of the 'changes' in a man are no doubt unfoldings of the patterns hidden in the seed; though these are of course modified by the situation (geographical or climatic) into which it is thrown, and may be damaged by terrestrial accidents.

—Letter 183

Here Tolkien uses the comparison with a seed to illustrate how the changes human beings undergo unfold according to some innate 'programming,' though the results can be and are affected and shaped by their environment.

I'm reminded of Jesus' parable of the four soils, where the same seed is sown on a path, in rocky ground, in thorny areas, and in good soil. Similar instructions are carried in each seed, and all the seeds that are not snatched off the path begin to grow similarly. But the environment of the rocks and the thorns affects the development of those seeds: the seeds on the path are snatched away, the seeds in the rocky soil don’t develop solid roots, and the seeds in the thorns are chocked and wilt. Only the seeds sown in the good soil survive and thrive.

This view is not Tolkien's whole view of how people change, however. He continues, observing that in addition to a seed, a human being is also like a gardener.

But this comparison leaves out inevitably an important point. A man is not only a seed, developing in a defined pattern, well or ill according to its situation or its defects as an example of its species; a man is both a seed and in some degree also a gardener, for good or ill. I am impressed by the degree in which the development of 'character' can be a product of conscious intention, the will to modify innate tendencies in desired directions; in some cases the change can be great and permanent.

—Letter 183

In Tolkien’s view, we are not simply slaves to our ‘programming.’ Humans can exercise their free will, or “conscious intention” on their lives and effect real, significant changes—both positive and negative.

I find this to be a helpful view, personally. Whether because of our own natures or as the result of circumstances larger than our own all around us, I’ve seen firsthand how there are aspects of how we grow and change as human beings that we just don’t have much control over.

But that is—thankfully, blessedly—not the only set of forces at work in how our lives turn out.

We have a say, though it may seem like a small one at times, in how we act and who we become.

Tolkien’s legendarium is rife with examples of characters who, though they found themselves caught up in events much larger than themselves, make the conscious choice to be courageous, to sacrifice, to fight against the pull of self-preservation or the paralysis of fear.

Chief among those examples are Bilbo and Frodo, who were changed by their adventures into much different Hobbits than they were then when they set out but who also made conscious choices that shaped their own characters and fates.

Stopped dead in his tracks by fear during his descent into the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo chose to continue his mission into Smaug’s lair. It was the bravest thing he ever did.

With the fate of the Shire in the balance, Frodo chose to accept the quest to carry the Ring out of the Shire. Though he felt “very small, and very uprooted, and well – desperate,” he made the difficult choice to go on in spite of that fear.

So tend the garden of your life in hope. Yes, there are forces both within our hearts and without in the world that we cannot control. But that is not the end of the story. We have a part to play and a garden to tend.

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Tolkien Tidbits

Quick Tolkien or Tolkien-related items from the news or recent events

New Tolkien sculptures unveiled in Roos — East Riding News

A Lincolnshire artist has crafted two statues—one of a young J.R.R. Tolkien and another of his wife Edith dancing in front of him in the woods à la Beren and Luthien. These sculptures, both carved from a single piece of oak, were recently unveiled in the East Riding village of Roos. The Yorkshire town hopes highlighting the connections to Tolkien will increase tourism and interest in the area.

Can Lord of the Rings Bring Success to Washington Nationals? — Sports Illustrated

Eight members of the Washington Nationals are currently reading Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings for a team book club. The club started as a Bible study, branched out to some of C.S. Lewis’ works, and then made the natural jump to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The club has just recently started The Fellowship of the Ring.

‘LOTR: The Rings Of Power’ Adds Trio To Cast As Season 3 Starts Production — Deadline

“Andrew Richardson (Ponies) has been cast as a series regular and Zubin Varla (Andor) and Adam Young (Masters of the Air) as recurring in the upcoming third season of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which recently began filming at the Amazon MGM Studios series’ new U.K. production home, Shepperton Studios.

British actors Richardson, Varla and Young — who all have extensive theater background — join previously announced new Season 3 cast additions, Stranger Things‘ Jamie Campbell Bower, who will be a series regular, and Eddie Marsan, who will recur.”

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