THE GREAT 1960’s CULTURAL CONFUSION

I’ve been reading an interesting biography about J.R.R. Tolkien and one of the chapters opens with what I considered a brilliant explanation about why The Lord of the Rings was such a success, especially in America.

So here’s an extended quote from pages 133-134 of “J.R.R. Tolkien, Architect of Middle Earth” by Daniel Grotta, originally published in 1976.

“The Lord of the Rings burst on the campuses of American colleges and universities like a rainstorm over a parched desert. Since the early ‘60s, when the American dream had begun to turn into a nonstop nightmare of presidential assassination, dirty wars in Southeast Asia, black power tirades and white backlashes, urban riots and campus disorders, many younger people began to feel dissatisfaction with and alienation from the mainstream of contemporary life. The vision of perfection that had enchanted a post-war generation – shopping centres, suburban split-levels, two-car garages, and color television sets – failed to satisfy their children; in fact, almost everything about middle-class America became anathema to rebellious youth. At first, the great social issues of the decade attracted their allegiance, spearheaded by an almost fanatical idolization of a youthful, dynamic president. The New Frontier meant the Peace Corps, VISTA, civil rights, the war on poverty, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and a man on the moon by the end of the decade. But after John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas came the disenchantment of war, civil strife, social upheaval, government wrongdoing, and increasing abuse of the environment. The disenchantment became alienation, the alienation produced a polarity, and one extreme of that polarity became manifest in the hippie movement, drug abuse and student protest.

Large numbers of intelligent, educated young Americans found no pleasure in the present, no solace in the past, and little hope for the future. “Be here now” and “do your own thing” reflected the agonizing, hedonistic frenzy of a confused culture. A benign cynicism towards existing institutions inspired a search for new gods: the occult, mysticism, psychedelics, Eastern philosophy, ecology, and back-to-the-land movements. Some found rootless answers and temporary solutions, only to move on in deep dissatisfaction to a new guru, a different movement, another relationship.

In ancient cultures mythology provided continuity from past to present by creating acceptable points of reference, reassurance that acts of hope and heroism were possible. In the West, mythology was in large part superseded by organized religion. Religion provided gods, heroes, and hope for centuries until Darwin, Marx, Freud, and the rise of modern industrial society fatally undercut its foundation. Religion was replaced by nationalism, communism, materialism, and other temporary surrogates. But what was needed were new myths, believable gods, acceptable roots in the past.

Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings as an attempt to modernize the old myths and make them credible. Apparently he succeeded beyond his own expectations, because his work was so well written and his mythology so well constructed – but perhaps equally because the modern need for a new mythology was so great.”

Now, as a Christian, I cannot agree with all Daniel Grotta’s conclusions – I definitely don’t think the world needed new ‘gods’. But there are themes in this that, God willing, I will explore in this blog over the next few weeks.