Fellowship Of Ring Book 1 Essay
Jonathon Rzasnicki
Mr. Nash
English 4
28 October 2014
Literary Conflicts and Lessons Learned in The Fellowship of the Ring It is often very useful to find the moral of a story. The moral of a story teaches the reader something he or she can improve about themselves or the way they live. JRR Tolkien makes the moral of his story, The Fellowship of the Ring, known through the conflicts of the characters. Tolkien uses three distinctly different literary conflicts in The Fellowship of the Ring to critique the morals and mechanics of society today. In his novel, Tolkien uses the conflict between characters and nature to teach society that the consequences of disrupting nature are immediate and devastating. The meaning of nature in this context is not referring to the orientation of a certain thing, but instead it is referring to the natural world. In Tolkien 's novel, the natural world can be symbolized the realm of his fictional Middle Earth. The hobbits run into several conflicts with nature on their journey through Middle Earth. For example, as they are preparing to go into the Old Forest, Merry Brandybuck tells the other hobbits about the Bonfire glade saying, "The hobbits came and cut down hundreds of trees, and made a great bonfire in the Forest, and burned all the ground in a long strip east of the Hedge." (Tolkien 157) In the story, the Old Forest is not viewed as a forest today would be viewed. The Forest that the hobbits travel through is actually alive and has a personality and feelings. Therefore, the bonfire made by the people of Buckland can be seen as a terrible act of genocide in the context of the story. This act of cruelty is the foundation for the Forest 's hate against Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry. Furthermore, the manifestation of the revenge of the Forest can be seen when Old Man Willow, a willow tree in the Forest, swallows Merry and Pippin. By putting a tree that can seek revenge and swallow people whole into his story, Tolkien highlights the
Mr. Nash
English 4
28 October 2014
Literary Conflicts and Lessons Learned in The Fellowship of the Ring It is often very useful to find the moral of a story. The moral of a story teaches the reader something he or she can improve about themselves or the way they live. JRR Tolkien makes the moral of his story, The Fellowship of the Ring, known through the conflicts of the characters. Tolkien uses three distinctly different literary conflicts in The Fellowship of the Ring to critique the morals and mechanics of society today. In his novel, Tolkien uses the conflict between characters and nature to teach society that the consequences of disrupting nature are immediate and devastating. The meaning of nature in this context is not referring to the orientation of a certain thing, but instead it is referring to the natural world. In Tolkien 's novel, the natural world can be symbolized the realm of his fictional Middle Earth. The hobbits run into several conflicts with nature on their journey through Middle Earth. For example, as they are preparing to go into the Old Forest, Merry Brandybuck tells the other hobbits about the Bonfire glade saying, "The hobbits came and cut down hundreds of trees, and made a great bonfire in the Forest, and burned all the ground in a long strip east of the Hedge." (Tolkien 157) In the story, the Old Forest is not viewed as a forest today would be viewed. The Forest that the hobbits travel through is actually alive and has a personality and feelings. Therefore, the bonfire made by the people of Buckland can be seen as a terrible act of genocide in the context of the story. This act of cruelty is the foundation for the Forest 's hate against Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry. Furthermore, the manifestation of the revenge of the Forest can be seen when Old Man Willow, a willow tree in the Forest, swallows Merry and Pippin. By putting a tree that can seek revenge and swallow people whole into his story, Tolkien highlights the
Cited: Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring: Part One of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print.