Reading Journal - Entry #46
The Unsettling of America and In the House of Tom Bombadil
Welcome back to the Reading Journal! This week, I’ve been enjoying some time off for Christmas and preparing for some family traveling, so my reading time has been a little limited. That said, I did get some listening in, and I’m excited about the books I started: The Unsettling of America, by Wendell Berry, and In the House of Tom Bombadil, by C. R. Wiley.
The Unsettling of America
This book has been interesting so far. For most of this year, my wife and I have been slowly researching modern food production and agriculture, which has resulted in some changes for us. This book has confirmed a lot of what I’d read, although more from the perspective of a farmer, and less from that of a consumer. However, that isn’t why I chose this book. I chose this book because I have yet to read a book by Berry, and based on my other interests and my circle of friends and influence, he seems to be someone I should have read at least a little of by now. The reason I’m reading this book specifically is that it seemed like a good place to start before reading his fiction.
This book is a kind of collection of essays written in the seventies. It’s concerning how much was going on then to industrialize American food production, specifically in light of the likelihood that it’s only gotten worse over the last almost fifty years. The practices Berry discusses of industrial farmers, incentivized by the federal government, are unsustainable. Now, conservatives often hear that word and bristle, but let’s not forget that we are the shepherds of creation. Taking dominion, as Scripture commands, involves seeking the best for creation while understanding that plants and animals were given to us to use for food. There is a lot there as far as imagery goes (have you ever considered that the vast majority of what you eat died and, thereby, gave you life?), but for now let’s just say that we should be seeking to produce food sustainably, assuming a biblical definition of “sustainable.”
That point about sustainability actually gets at a point of disagreement I’ve encountered with Berry. Berry, so far, seems to lean farther into the environmentalist camp than I’m willing to. He nearly loses the aspect of the human mandate to take dominion. This may come from an unbiblical understanding of said dominion, or I could have just not read enough to hear him on it. Either way, he tends to speak about humanity as if it’s one more part of a natural system; which it is, but it’s more than that, too. Again, I very well could come across more later in this book that shows this to be an incorrect assessment of Berry’s views, but that’s the idea I’m getting so far.
In the House of Tom Bombadil
This book is an exploration of Tom Bombadil’s character, role, and purpose in The Lord of the Rings. Wiley is an author I appreciate because he keeps his ideas accessible, even when they’re complex; this book is no exception. So far, I’ve found it insightful and helpful in thinking through Tom’s character and what it means for readers of the story. Wiley mentions different theories about who Tom is and explains that he believes Tom is an example of what dominion over creation should look like. At the very least, Wiley’s theory helps the reader understand more about Tom Bombadil, although I find Wiley’s case convincing, as far as I’ve read.
This discussion of Tom’s role in Tolkien’s story brings me to an interesting point. As I was writing the above section on The Unsettling of America, it struck me that these two books actually go well together, although I didn’t intentionally pair them that way. Wiley spends a good deal of time discussing Tom’s role of dominion and how biblical dominion, as he sees Tom fulfilling it, does not mean exercising the kind of mastery that Saruman sought over other creatures. That kind of mastery is the same kind that the N.I.C.E. are seeking in Lewis’s That Hideous Strength and that modern scientists believe they can achieve. If creation is a machine, all we have to do is understand its parts well enough to be able to shape them into whatever combinations best serve us and our interests. This isn’t Tom’s kind of mastery at all.
Tom is the master, as Goldberry (Tom’s wife) plainly tells the hobbits. But Tom’s mastery is one that understands his role in the creation and knows its limits. He knows what each creature is supposed to do when it’s submitting to its created purpose. He knows that he doesn’t own any of the things over which he is master; however, he takes responsibility for and tends them. These points, which Wiley makes by quoting from Tolkien’s story, are the reason I think Wiley’s theory of who Tom is is one of the most convincing I’ve heard.
We often associate domination and mastery with negative ideas of oppression and abuse. However, Scripture is clear that authority is not bad in and of itself. In fact, we are plainly taught, in many instances, to submit to authority, even when we disagree. So, Tom’s mastery, dominion, and power are put to the right use by being spent for the creatures for which he’s responsible. He certainly gains from it, but his gain is not the point of his action. This is the point I wish Berry emphasized a little more: man was made to be responsible before God for the creation. This responsibility involves taking dominion of the earth and shepherding it to the best fruitfulness and health possible. Now, Berry does get it right that simply leaving vast areas of land alone is almost as bad as destroying it with poor farming practices; however, I think he doesn’t place enough of an emphasis on this necessity of human shepherding, at least not as far as I’ve read.
Well, that’s all I have for this week. There are some exciting projects in the works for the new year and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you all once they’re a little more concrete. For now, if you know someone you think would benefit from or enjoy this content, please share it with them.
Thank you, as always, for reading the Reading Journal! Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts and what you’re currently reading. I hope you all enjoy this weekend’s New Year celebrations, thanking God for what He’s done in the past and what He will do in the future.
In Him and for His Glory