FREE ESSAY ON LORD OF THE RINGS

LORD OF THE RINGS

Lord of the Rings: Picked Apart
Imagine yourself in a pre-industrial world full of mystery and magic. Imagine a world
full of monsters, demons, and danger, as well as a world full of friends, fairies, good
wizards, and adventure. In doing so you have just taken your first step onto a vast world
created by author and scholar John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Tolkien became fascinated by
language at an early age during his schooling, in particularly, the languages of Northern
Europe, both ancient and modern. This affinity for language did not only lead to his
profession, but also his private hobby, the invention of languages. His broad knowledge
eventually led to the development of his opinions about Myth and the importance of
stories. All these various perspectives: language, the heroic tradition, and Myth, as
well as deeply-held beliefs in Catholic Christianity work together in all of his works.
The main elements of Tolkien's works are Good versus Evil, characters of Christian and
anti-Christian origin, and the power of imagination. 
In Tolkien world, evil is the antithesis of creativity, and is dependent on destruction
and ruin for its basis. Conversely, goodness is associated with the beauty of creation as
well as the preservation of anything that is created. The symbolic nature of these two
ideologies is represented in the Elven Rings, which symbolize goodness, and the One Ring,
which is wholly evil. A main theme of The Hobbit, then, is the struggle within our own
free will between good will and evil. Early in the (Lord of the Rings) narrative, Frodo
recalls that his uncle Bilbo, especially during his later years, was fond of declaring
that… there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at
every doorstep, and every path was it tributary. (Wood, 208) 
Bilbo, the main character of The Hobbit, often displayed his goodness throughout
Tolkien's novel. One example of this goodness is when he decides to let the evil and
corrupt Gollum live, out of pity for him, in the dark caves under the mountain. Bilbo
could have easily slain the horrid creature mainly because of the ring, which he was
wearing at that time, gave him the power of invisibility. Instead, he risked his life to
let the Gollum live by quickly jumping past the evil creature, thereby escaping death of
either character. Gandalf, in a later narrative, lectures Frodo by praising Bilbo's act
of pity upon Gollum. Gandalf's words were, Pity? It was pity that stayed his hand. Pity,
and Mercy; not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded Frodo. For Gollum,
later in the novel, saved Frodo from becoming possessed by the Ring of power. Many that
live deserves death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not
be too eager to deal out death in judgement… (Wood, 208) 
Another form of goodness that is displayed throughout The Hobbit and The Lord of the
Rings is Bilbo and Frodo's actions of self-sacrifice. In The Hobbit there are two
instances in which villains caught the dwarves, Bilbo's fellow adventurers. Instead of
fleeing their enemies, Bilbo risked his life to save the dwarves from the clutches of
evil. One instance of this is when a clan of unusually large spiders captured Bilbo's
companions and planned to eat them. Bilbo then devised a plan to distract the spiders
away from their victims and then silently backtracked to his companions. He then cut the
dwarves from the sticky spider webs with which they were tied and, together, they fought
their way to safety. Also, Frodo, in The Lord of the Rings was challenged with the
destruction of the all-evil and corrupting One Ring of power. In doing so, Frodo
sacrificed his life. We should also remember that Frodo's self-sacrifice is not only for
the defeat of evil; it is also for the good of society, for the whole community of
created beings. This suggests, in turn, that in the mind of the fantasist, society is
worth saving. (Evans, 481) 
As opposed to the good deeds and morals portrayed by Bilbo and his companions, there are
many foul and unholy creatures that lurk in the pages of Tolkien's works, which commit
horrible acts. One of the most horrid of the acts in The Hobbit was the corruption of
Gollum. Gollum was not always the slimy, cave dwelling, dangerous monster that he became.
He was once a Hobbit, not unlike Bilbo himself, named Smeagol. However, one day he and
his brother, Deagol, were by a riverbank. Deagol found the ring of power. Then, Smeagol,
who soon became the Gollum, killed his brother to attain the Ring of power for himself.
This Ring, the Ring to rule them all, had the power to corrupt any person who possessed
it. Whether it was the Ring's overpowering magic or simply Gollum's lust for the ring,
the corruption that overcame Smeagol drove him to commit the ghastly murder of his
brother. Another evil in The Hobbit is an evil that is much more familiar to any reader,
the evil of greed. This trait is most prominent in the character of the gigantic dragon
Smaug. Even though Smaug has no use for great amounts of gold and jewels, he covets and
guards his stolen fortune to the death. Tolkien had created the dragon to be born with
the desire to plunder towns and kill the innocent to gain his utmost desires, treasure of
any and all sorts. Tolkien may very well have created this monster in the light of many
monsters of our world, the primary world. However, these monsters do not fly on wings
like that of a great bat and spat fire from their nostrils. These monsters usually wear a
suit and tie. Like the fictional Smaug, some greedy human beings feed off others of
lesser power or social status to attain their financial goals of excess. 
Even though Tolkien claims that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were not written in
the light of Christianity or as an allegory, there is a great presence of religious
symbolism throughout his epic. Urang agrees in his statement, The Lord of the Rings,
although it contains no 'God', no 'Christ', and no 'Christians', embodies much of
Tolkien's 'real religion' and is a profoundly a Christian work. Tolkien, whether by
mistake or purposely, seems to relate the adventures and acts of his characters Bilbo and
Gandalf closely to the acts of Christ in the Bible. In the The Hobbit, Bilbo often acted
as Jesus would in the Bible. Confronted with the possession of the evil Ring of power,
Bilbo was often tempted to use the Ring in excess and for wrong reasons. However the
strong willed hobbit never succumbed to that evil power, much like when Jesus resists the
temptation of Satan in the desert in Matthew 3:16. In short, the passage explains how the
Lord, after fasting for forty days and forty nights, resists the temptation to create
food and feast. He then is tested by Satan to call upon his angels to save him from
deadly leap off of the highest point of a high precipice. Jesus simply turns Satan away
again. Also, one of Bilbo's descendants, Frodo, was burdened with the temptation of the
Ring. Frodo knew of the power that the Ring held and knew that he could either be a great
evil power himself, or that this great evil thing must be destroyed. The end of the Lord
of the Rings results in the destruction of the Ring and, along with it, the death of
Frodo. Frodo learns- and thus teaches- what for Tolkien is the deepest of all Christian
truths: how to surrender one's life, how to lose one's treasure, how to die, and thus how
truly to live. (Wood, 208) 
Another Christian-like manifestation of Tolkien's creative imagination is the character
of Gandalf, the good wizard. Gandalf, the Christ-like wizard who lays down his life for
his friends, knows that he is an unworthy bearer of the Ring - not because he has evil
designs that he wants secretly to accomplish, but rather because his desire to do good is
so great. (Wood 208) Gandalf is an important pawn and advantage to the hobbit and dwarves
in their adventure. He often guides, gives advice, and overall helps the adventurers
along in their great journey. Believers of Christianity also believe that Christ is with
them, guiding and showing the way to salvation, throughout their day. Although Gandalf,
in Tolkien's novels, never cured a blind man or leper with a touch of his hand, he
compares to Jesus in the miracles of his magic and spell casting. 
Also, the ring is a symbol of power, evil power. It is the part of nature that
continually strives to destroy a person's ability to exercise free will. In essence, the
power of the Ring is the exact opposite of freedom. The purpose of the Ring is to
destroy, through deceit and corruption, anything good in the world. Another way to show
the evil nature of the ring is to say that it represents the omnipresence of evil. Its
very existence, because it contains the evil will of its creator, Sauron, has the power
to tempt, corrupt, and, in doing so, destroy. Another way in which the evil nature of the
Ring can be depicted is in the way it has seemingly powerful animate abilities as an
inanimate object. In order to understand this, one must realize that if the Ring is evil
in itself, then it must also have the ability to work evil. It cannot necessarily create
evil ideas on its own, but instead it can take advantage of any opportunity that presents
itself to the Ring. Specifically, whenever Frodo actually uses the Ring, the Ring has a
chance to work its corruption on him. In this way, the Ring is advantageous, and the
stronger the presence of evil, the easier it is for the Ring to work on the bearer. For
example, in The Lord of the Rings, the presence of the Witch-king is a tremendous evil;
the Ring takes advantage of this, and convinces Frodo to use it in order to escape.
Although Frodo is not permanently corrupted at this point, the Ring is slowly eating away
at him, and its power over him grows each time he uses it. 
Bibliography
By the use of his amazing imagination, as well as mastery of language and knowledge of
myth and Christian principles, Tolkien created his characters who were the epitome of
good and evil. It would seem the Ring itself had the power of the devil. However, the
virtues of the Christ-like Bilbo and Frodo Baggins destroyed the all-consuming evil for
the purpose of the common good. It is the Christ ethic that is the force that conquers
evil. Tolkien's writings mesmerize the reader, creating a spell bounding secondary
reality for all that reads it.