The Myth about Tolkien Essay

“The murder of Déagol haunted Gollum, and he had made up a defense, repeating it to his ‘precious’ over and over” (The Fellowship of the Ring 62). This quote gives a look into the strongest moment of shock that impacted young Sméagol’s life forever. Gollum is a fictional character unlike any other in The Lord of the Rings series, as he is portrayed as having undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. There are six recurring symptoms that must happen in conjunction with traumatic factors in order for someone to be diagnosed with PTSD, and unfortunately for Sméagol his actions and history sync perfectly into the diagnosis. Due to the fact that Gollum is a fictional character out of a book, it seems that the author, J.R.R. Tolkien, may have purposely given these attributes to Gollum to display PTSD. Though Tolkien may argue that his time in the war did not highly influence his books, subconsciously Tolkien, like many who were in the war, could have had undiagnosed PTSD or known someone who did. As a combat veteran, Tolkien and his friends were more likely to develop PTSD. This may have resulted in portraying these symptoms on to one specific character, Gollum. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder “is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event” (NIMH), just as Gollum had and continues to be put through. He has had a rough past of loss and exile, as well as continuously trudges through horrific events and torture in which he must

In 1949, Joseph Campbell discussed the hero’s journey, the foundation commonly used in stories throughout history. In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the hero’s journey narrative is used to tell the story of Bilbo Baggins’s adventure. The novel follows Bilbo Baggins and a company of dwarves as they seek to take back the dwarves’ fallen kingdom. As the story progresses, Bilbo’s character develops and the dwarves perception of him develops through the many trials before the death of Smaug the dragon and the final battle between a variety of mythical creatures. In The Hobbit, the dwarves originally doubt Bilbo’s abilities but as Bilbo encounters more obstacles and succeeds, the dwarves perception turns to one of respect and admiration.

When you think of a hero, is the first character to pop in your head a little hobbit named Bilbo Baggins? In most cases, people think of Superman or Hercules, but in The Hobbit, an unexpected hero emerges and changes the name for all heroes to come. The Hobbit is a novel about Bilbo Baggins and his journey, with thirteen dwarves and a wizard, seeking the treasure stolen by the dragon, Smaug. While on this unexpected journey, Bilbo and his companions overcome many obstacles to eventually get to the treasure and retrieve it. Throughout the story, Bilbo develops into a courageous man, who indeed, is a hero. Richard Tyre wrote an article, “You Can’t Teach Tolkien,” and he explains his theory in which he connects multiple story’s plot with six elements. The Hobbit, is assuredly a prime example of Tyre’s theory because it follows all six steps throughout the story simultaneously. The six elements are; “(1) those who hunt for treasure, (2) must go alone, (3) at night, (4) and when they find it, (5) they must leave some of their blood behind, (6) and the treasure is never what they expected” (Tyre 19). These elements are steps in which a character must take to emerge into a hero in the end. Bilbo Baggins is the hero in The Hobbit, but he doesn’t start off as the hero. He has always had heroic traits but throughout the novel, he pursues those six steps and in the resolution, he is transformed into an actual hero.

Lord Acton once said, "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely." He was probably referring to the powerful kings and queens who held power over many people. But, we could see how power is something many of the characters in Tolkien's story are trying to have and hold onto in some form or another. In The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien tells us a story about Frodo Baggins who is ordered by Gandalf to destroy the powerful ring discovered accidentally by his older cousin, Bilbo. Like the rest of the hobbits, Frodo has lived quite peacefully and well, not having to worry about how dark and dreary the rest of Middle Earth was becoming under Sauron's growing power. Now, Frodo,

Do you ever wonder what kind of person you are? Are you adventurous, perseptive, athletic? Have these traits ever affected your decision making? Because in “The Hobbit” By J.R.R. Tolkien, The protagonist Bilbo Baggins feels conflicted whether he should act like his more daring ancestors, the Tooks by embarking on a perilous journey to retake a kingdom. Or to be like his more respectable ancestors, the Bagginses and stay in the comfort of his warm home. As you can see, the traits he has acquired from his forebears are altering the way he sees the situation. Much like Bilbo, I believe that we all have similar sides to our personalities, whether the conflict is to be brave or timid, or smart rather than foolishly. And it is up to us to correctly

How can an author write a story which appeals to a present day audience? Richard H. Tyre published an article in 1978 that gives an answer to this very question. Tyre explains how most kids today choose to read books like the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings series, and even The Wizard of Oz. An existing theory that Tyre came up with explains that each of these books, along with many others, have one thing in common: 6 plot elements. Not only do these stories contain the same 6 elements but those elements are in the same order! Tyre states that “(1) those who hunt for treasure, (2) must go alone, (3) at night, (4) and when they find it, (5) they must leave some of their blood behind, (6) and the treasure is never what they expected.” (Tyre 2). J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of The Hobbit. The Hobbit revolves around one hobbit in particular named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo embarks on a journey with 14 others to recover a treasure that is guarded by a dragon. Along the way Bilbo faces many challenges that range from running into huge trolls, to taking part in fierce battles. Due to it’s main character hunting for treasure, facing most of the dangers alone, battling during the wee hours of the night, eventually finding the treasure, after sweating/crying/and enduring injuries, just to have the treasure revealed to him as not what he expected, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is undoubtedly a perfect example of Tyre’s 6 plot elements.

If the study of literature shows nothing else, it shows that every author, consciously or subconsciously, creates his (or her) work after his (or her) own worldview. Tolkien is no exception. "I am a Christian..." he writes(1), and his book shows it. Christianity appears not as allegory--Tolkien despises that(2)--nor as analogy, but as deep under girding presuppositions, similarities of pattern, and shared symbols.

The Hobbit is a novel about a complacent hobbit named Bilbo Baggins accompanying a group of thirteen dwarves - as their burglar - on a journey to regain the dwarves’ treasure from the vast, beastly dragon, Smaug. Along the adventure, Bilbo starts becoming the brave adventurer he was meant to be. While the story is a fun, adventurous tale, the stereotypes and racism of/in the character races could be seen as a reflection of discrimination in the early 1900s and modern days. The way character groups in The Hobbit are mistreated is similar to the way specific groups in society were treated in the early days.

In the trilogy, it is noticeable that Dwarves behaved in a very similar manner. Moreover, as well as Jews, Dwarves are, according to Elves and Men, not trustworthy. Tolkien himself describes Dwarves as a greedy race, which is the same opinion that Victorians had about Jewish people, especially males, since only the latter were allowed to work and make

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been beloved works among many generations of readers since they were first published. The author of these two books, J.R.R. Tolkien is just as interesting a man as many of the characters he created in the world of Middle-Earth. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Africa to a banker manager and his wife in 1892 and had only one sibling, Hilary, who was less than two years younger (Wikipedia). When he was young both of his parents died (one from rheumatic fever, the other from diabetes) and he and his brother were raised by a Catholic priest in Birmingham (Wikipedia). Tolkien was involved in World War One and Two, first as a serviceman, then as a cryptographer (Wikipedia). Indeed he was very

Using this definition of racism makes it, in many ways, easy to see racist statements in the text and this is why it is also easy to classify the text as a racist text. Nevertheless, a text does not need to be racist just because some of the characters in the text are. Heart of Darkness is an example of a text with many racist statements without being racist itself. Moreover, why is that one might wonder? Mostly because there are also many antiracist parts in the book. I have selected a few of these antiracist parts to prove that Heart of Darkness cannot be a racist book just because some of the minor characters are racists. That does not make the purpose of the book racist.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is a story of adventure and danger, and it is a prime example of a romantic plot and fantasy genre. What makes this story such a great example of a romantic plot? One, the unlikely hero, Mr. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit that is dragged on an adventure he doesn’t wish to take. Second, there is a great quest with a reward at its end. Third the great teacher figure, Gandalf is a wizard that helps Bilbo to become the great hero he is destined to be. And lastly the dragon figure, in this story the dragon figure, happened to be a dragon but there are also many miniature dragon figures through out the tale.

"Three Rings for the Eleven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his Dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie(Tolkien)." Master of storytelling J.R.R. Tolkien continues the lives of the fictitious creatures that he introduced in The Hobbit, in his modern classic The Fellowship of the Ring. He artfully illustrates the truths of the evil that plague the hearts of man. He tells a story of greed, destruction and how mortal men are enslaved by

I would like to conclude by saying that this novel The Lord of the Rings has inspired many spin off works, including several games as well.The enormous popularity of Tolkien’s epic saga has greatly expanded the demand for fantay novels, largely thanks to the Lord of the Rings. It is an an extraordinary work, grandly conceived, brilliantly executed and wildly entertaining novel of Tolkien .In the whole novel we see that it 's a hobbit 's dream, a wizard 's delight. And, of course, it 's only the beginning.The language used in this novel is very simple and easy to understand by people. In short this novel has won the hearts of many .This novel is a must read. I see this novel as a near perfect: It 's one of the best fantasy novel ever written. The story just revolves around the Ring which is created by a Dark lord, Sauron.It has brought the supernaturalism in such a way that we could clearly make out where is the supernaturalism used.

I suppose the verse could find a still further fulfilment on a world-wide scale, but I seems clear that the sudden rise of Trump in tandem with what is happening politically in this country and even around the world, is just one more “coincidence” that seems choreographed by something greater than ourselves. If what has recently happened is the fulfilment of these two prophecies, than the tribulation could start at any moment. A dark time approaches.