"But Middle-earth is not a light holiday destination. It's a world being overrun by forces of evil. The same can be said of lots of fantasy worlds; that's the thing about a genre-defining piece of literature-it sets the conventions for the stories to come. But J.R.R. Tolkien remains unique in the degree to which his great work focuses not just on the overwhelming threat of a powerful villain but also on the despair that such a threat generates."
"Rather, he is seeking to break their will to resist him (as he had done to the men of the East and the oliphaunt-riding Haradrim of the South). To this end, despair is his most effective weapon. Sauron's chief lieutenants, the Nazgûl, are not very powerful in a physical sense; as Tolkien describes, "Their peril is almost entirely due to the unreasoning fear which they inspire.""
Middle-earth is a world being overrun by forces of evil. Sauron seeks not simply to annihilate peoples but to break their will to resist, making despair his primary weapon. His strategies include spreading darkness and using agents like the Nazgûl, whose danger arises from the unreasoning fear they inspire rather than sheer physical power. He manipulates leaders through instruments such as the palantír to convince them resistance is futile. The decision to maintain or surrender hope serves as the central organizing principle and moral fulcrum that shapes characters' choices and the course of events across the story.
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