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How The Inklings Affect Society

Decent Essays

C.S. Lewis, best known for his book series The Chronicles of Narnia, and J.R.R. Tolkien, best known for The Lord of the Rings, were two prominent authors in the mid 1900s. Together they formed a literary club, The Inklings, which is a source of envy for authors who have come after them. To be in a meeting with the Inklings, to hear them read their latest literary endeavors, how exciting that would be! The members of the Inklings not only listened to one other's latest writings, they also assisted one another in their composition endeavors to much success.
The Inklings was originally the name of a literary group formed at Oxford University, consisting of undergrad students and some faculty members. The group was devoted to reading bits of poetry or composition pieces. When the class graduated, Lewis and Tolkien, faculty members of the club, transferred the name to their informal club of …show more content…

Members of the Inklings had the opportunity to form relationships with other members. They encouraged and motivated each other. The members were also somewhat held accountable by each other. Tolkien once said “But for the encouragement of C.S. Lewis, I do not think I should ever have completed or offered for publication The Lord of the Rings” (Letters 366). The Inklings were also affected by the society around them. Both Tolkien and Lewis, disappointed that there was not much good modern literature, decided to write it themselves. Lewis wrote to Tolkien, “If they won’t write the kind of books we want to read, we shall have to write them ourselves, but it is very laborious” (Letters 209). Because of this, Lewis wrote his space trilogy, and Tolkien developed though never completed a time travel book. Lewis’s writing has greatly affected society, with famous fiction and theological books, as have Tolkien’s works of fiction. Other Inklings have enjoyed literary success, but none as much as Tolkien and

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