Gabourel Rhianna Gabourel Ms.

Gillhespy ENC 1102 14 March 2013 The Defense Speaks Orcs Simply Using Self-defense to Save Their Lives The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the critically acclaimed fantasy novel by J.R.R.

Tolkiens turned box office hit by Peter Jackson. The film follows three very diverse journeys as well as three different battles. Frodo and Sams trip to Mordor, Aragorn, and Legolas fight for their war torn nation, and Merry and Pippins encounter with Treebeard the Ent, and their plan to attack Isengard. In a war torn nation, many sacrifice their lives, homes, and families to fight for what is right. The wars in this film are no different however, there is one battle in this film that really is not a battle at all. It was an ambush, an ambush launched by the Ents. The Ents are described as a peaceful tree like creature. They are shepherds of the forest and remain neutral when it comes to conflicts. The Orcs are servants, pawns actually of Saruman an evil wizard who uses them to help take over Mordor, by destroying basically everything in his path, including the forest. As the Treebeard and the other Ents saw what the Orcs had done to the forest they became enraged, out of rage the Ents took their final march and attacked the unsuspecting Orcs. Now the state is prosecuting the Orcs for killing the Ents. The Orcs are innocent, and are merely pawns acting out of self-defense, and loyalty. Though trees were cut down and the forest destroyed the Orcs cant be held responsible the crimes of Saruman the true villain behind the destruction. From the start of the film we see that the Orcs though snarly and foul are really just working to please Saruman. As J.R.R. Tolkiens defines the Orcs in his book they are Servants

Gabourel to Saruman the wise: the hand that gives them mans flesh. As we enter the mines of the Orcs we see that the Orcs are lined up in obedience to the presence of Saruman (figure 1). The Orcs are said to serve Saruman out of fear. He is the one who provides them with everything they need to survive so why would they ever question their master. The trees that the Orcs cut down were not Ents, and they were used to fuel the fire in the mines to keep producing weapons for Sarumans army. In the Orcs eyes cutting down the trees were necessary to help Saruman rule

middle earth. The Orcs have no choice but to obey Saruman they are simply loyal to their master. Not only are Orcs pawns but it is the Ents who were the ones who decided to go to and not the Orcs. As Pippin and Merry inform the Ents of what Saruman is doing to the world, Treebeard and the other Ents gather together to discuses going to war. After days of deliberation they decide that it is not their place to join Sarumans war. However, as Treebeard is taking the hobbits back the their home they come across a destroyed forest. Enraged Treebeard declares that the Ents will go to war with Isengard and the Orcs. The Ents knew what they were getting into before they declared war. There are never any guarantees in battle. The Ents ambushed the Orcs, any of the Ents who lost their lives in that battle were the products of self-defense. Treebeard himself says, The Ents are going to war, it is likely we go to our doom. They preceded knowing very well the consequences of their actions. The Ents used their immense strength as well as boulders to break down the walls surrounding Isengard, like they were made of play dough (Figure 2) The Ents used their power and size to kill thousands of Orcs. They marched through Isengard with a vengeance trampling Orcs, breaking down the dam, taking support beams down as Isengard was flooded killing all the Orcs in the mines as well as those who were fortunate enough to be alive after the initial ambush.

Gabourel Isengard was demolished leaving only a flooded wasteland behind (Figure 3). Only the Ents and Saruman emerge from the smoke, the Ents triumphant in their victory, and Saruman in awe of what has become of Isengard. It would seem that in this battle the Orcs are the victims, though the prosecution is right an Ent did lose its life in the battle, that Ent was killed in selfdefense. The Ents were picking apart Orcs by the hundreds giving the Orcs no choice but to protect themselves. The Orcs may look like creatures straight from the depths of hell, but they are not cold-

blooded Ent killers. They are servants in Sarumans war to gain control of middle earth. The Ents however acted in rage. Creatures who should be neutral, creatures that took days to decide that this war wasnt theirs to fight took a matter of seconds to ambush, demolish and commit a mass murder of Orcs. The Orcs acted in self-defense a term defined by Oxford English Dictionary as The act of defending oneself, one's rights or position. They were not aiming to hurt the Ents and they certainly did not commit murder, but the same cannot be said for the other side. The Ents decided that this was the war they wanted to fight, and they must live with the repercussion of their decisions not falsely accuse the Orcs for simply defending themselves.

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Works Cited Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen. New Line Cinema, 2003. DVD.

Oxford English Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, 2013. Web. 25 February 2013.

Tiriel, Elena. The Emblem of Saruman. Henneth-Annun Story Archive. Henneth-annun. 15 August 2004. Web. 27 February 2013.