Were any of the characters, places, and/or events metaphors for something in our world? I figure some must be, but I’m a fairly literal reader: I got caught up imaging the fantasy world.
Anyone have any good ones, or could point me in the right direction?
istara
November 25, 2001, 11:47am
2
I found this at: http://www.auburn.edu/~speedhe/lotr.html
As Tolkien states himself, there is no particular metaphor, allegory, or symbolism in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien believed that critics delved to <sic - I think “too” is meant> deep into the meaning of his book, and it was actually written to entertain above all things; the only other purpose being to provide an escape of the corruption of this world and its destruction of nature.
<big snip… to the conclusion>
It’s an interesting article. Also I found this: http://www.epinions.com/content_27375799940
Not only because, as it was published, the book was said to contain many metaphors, for example, of the historical and political situation at the author’s times (in the days Tolkien decided the title of his work, Chamberlain was signing the pact of Munich with Hitler; not to talk about the role of Russia which, compared to Britain, is situated far in the East as Mordor’s reign is in the novel, if I remember well), as well as many autobiographical elements (I think it’s superfluous to stress Tolkien’s similarity with Bilbo Baggins, as he himself said: “I’m a hobbit myself, except for the height…”)
Type “Lord of the Rings metaphors” in Yahoo (without the quotes though) and you should find something to satisfy your curiosity.
Thanks, I’ll look them up. All I really heard about before was the generic “any evil thing=Hitler” parallels.
Maeglin
November 26, 2001, 5:28pm
4
Those are actually kinda hard to support since JRRT began work on Middle Earth almost thirty years before the outbreak of WWII.