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Originally Posted by power to the J  There defenitely are gratuitous excerpts and bits of decription in LotR. When J.R.R. spends a page telling me about the history of the family of a character I only see for another page and a half, how does that add anything to the story besides fluff? |
I'd be interested in examples of this you cite; but I'm willing to wager that they fall under the headings I describe above: comparison, contrast, and deepening the implications and emotional resonance (for both the characters and the reader) of ongoing events, thus making the story itself more impactful -- hardly "fluff" or gratuitous. Another purpose it serves is to show that each of the characters here has a life every bit as important; theirs simply remains "a tale untold", but as much a part of the fabric of the whole as the "greater" events depicted; by including such, Tolkien makes us more aware of the scope and implications of the main thread of the narrative; it takes on wider and deeper meaning and applicability. As I've remarked elsewhere, I've read the darned thing close to 20 times over the past 40 years, in its entirety, and I'm afraid I can't think of an example that fits either of those terms.
I'm reminded of the passage where Faramir and his men ambush the Haradrim, and Sam is looking at the body of one of the enemy, and we're given a moment's insight into that man's life through Sam's eyes. Now, that can be considered as a "nice moment" of characterization or a "wasted" bit of description, but the fact is that it not only provides the reader with a better understanding of the world Tolkien has presented, but it also provides Sam with an understanding that the issues aren't black-and-white, and serves as an ironic contrast to Frodo's empathy with Gollum, which Sam (until much later, and even then only dimly) does not share, as here Sam shows something very like that sort of empathy, but for a being who is actually much more "other" than Smeagol. In fact, it may be the very fact that Smeagol/Gollum is, in origin, closer to Sam that prevents Sam from having that ability to feel for him, for if he does so, he has to recognize his kinship and all that that implies... and that is simply too dangerous to his most basic understanding of the world and the difference between the good and the evil in it. Again, it serves to say many different (yet related) things, and to increase the depth and emotional complexity of the action -- hardly fluff, gratuitous, or wasted.