In Tolkien mythology, Sauron was powerful and long lived but even his power isn't all that impressive to someone who believes in the Abrahamic God. He could not

In Tolkien mythology, Sauron was powerful and long lived but even his power isn't all that impressive to someone who believes in the Abrahamic God. He could not suffer a defeat like Sauron, does not miss details, and has no need for armies or siege weapons. It's common to question a Creator who waits generations to remove evil persons from the picture, though at some point we're having an argument about deism by proxy and straying from critical analysis as such. It's enough for me that the different ideas and perspectives infused different works. I like your point about Orwellian optimism. At an historical scale, possibly Orwell was an optimist. I think he was still a pessimist on the scale of individuals, however, in a way that Tolkien didn't seem to be.