JRR Tolkien and the Twentieth Century Essay

When most people think of J.R.R. Tolkien, they often think of his great imagination and his world of great dragons, warriors, orcs, hobbits, wizards, dwarves and elves. But most people forget about the deeper meaning behind his stories and his controversy towards society. Tolkien was a British, fantasy, writer during the mid-1900s. Through his love of languages, religion, and country, J.R.R Tolkien’s works of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are controversial but masterpieces because Tolkien represents “good” as a fuller, more imaginative reality than evil.

Thesis: John Ronald Reule Tolkien’s life experiences influenced his writing, beginning as a student, then a soldier, lexigrapher, professor, and then a writer to his own children; Tolkien’s life created the place known to most as Middle-Earth.

Thesis: In The Hobbit, Tolkien wants to show the reader that anyone, from any background can step up to a challenge, and be extraordinary rather than ordinary.

Tolkien shows relationships between beings with various races in The Fellowship of the Ring to emphasize the strength of friendship. We can see the progressive development of relationship between characters within the fellowship and outside of the fellowship. Bilbo—the main

“The Lord of the Rings is racist. It is soaked in the logic that race determines behavior.” (Ibata 2). Many people have tried to perpetuate the myth that J.R.R. Tolkien was racist. They cite various scenes in The Lord of the Rings, in both the books and in the movies. These people are lying or ignorant. J.R.R. Tolkien was not a racist, nor did he ever intend for his novels to be viewed as such. There is plenty of evidence to defend Tolkien from these claims such as: the themes of his novels, like The Lord of the Rings; the clear messages in his personal writings and his upbringing; and the characters from his novels.

Grown up in an age of security, we shared a yearning for danger, for the experience of the extraordinary. We were enraptured by war” (Junger 5). Junger views World War One as a way to have a more exciting time than working a typical job. He wants to go to war to find enjoyment in his life.

In the opening remarks of the first chapter, Ernst Junger describes the idealistic origins of many of the soldiers called to action. Most of the soldiers drafted into the war were students and factory workers, all of whom lived a fairly sheltered life beforehand. Being drafted was seen as the adventure of a lifetime. They “shared a yearning for danger, for the experience of the extraordinary.” Much like his comrades, Junger had the same sense of adventure, seeing the war as merely a new challenge to conquer. After his first real experience with war however, his enthusiasm is quickly dashed. The harsh reality set in that this war was not, in fact, an adventure. Junger and the former schoolboys and craftsmen quickly learned that life in the trenches was a challenge of endurance. As the war persists, reality slowly sets in and Junger learns the true violent nature of the war and the constant threat of imminent danger through which he must persevere. Ernst Junger’s accounts in the memoir Storm of Steel show the reality of a soldier in World War I and the taxation of enduring such great trauma.

In 1920 Tolkien was appointed to the position of Associate Professor in English Language at the University of Leeds. At the university Tolkien cooperated with E.V. Gordon to publish the Songs for the Philologists. Tolkien in 1937 published The Hobbit and in 1954 published what would be his most famous works, The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's wife died in 1971 and himself died two years later in 1973 at the age of 81 and had four children. (Doughan).had many influences on his writing one among these is the literature of the old Norse. (Clair) This influence is visible in almost all aspects of the stories that Tolkien tells of Middle- Earth. The Hobbits, for example, are Tolkien's unique contribution to the world of Middle Earth. However the Hobbits are clearly based off of the Icelanders in the Njal's Saga. (Clair) There are many similarities between these two groups of peoples in the two stories. Many of these similarities are in habit. The Icelanders much like the Hobbits were fond of food and often were very proud of their ancestry and their belief in hospitality. Another similarity between the two groups is their ostentatious methods of dress. Both groups dressed very ornately and very colorfully. (Clair) Tolkien's elves also show many similarities to the elves of Northern literature. Both elves have histories of healing and of being smiths. (Clair) Aside from the influence of Norse Literature Tolkien was also influenced by his Catholic faith and

Tolkien was one of the most life changing events Lewis experienced because Tolkien opened Lewis’s eyes to a whole new world. Growing up, Lewis and Tolkien were exposed to some of the same authors and stories, giving them both a similar appreciation for literature. Tolkien expressed himself in a very creative and imaginative way, but he struggled with his writing being classified as children’s literature and had very little confidence when it came to publishing and sharing his works, whereas Lewis wrote very intellectually and philosophically and wasn’t afraid to get his works out into the public. A major conflict Lewis faced when it came to writing was not being able to balance both intellectual imaginative thought. He felt as though he needed to write to educate, but couldn’t do so while incorporating mythical elements, because he believed that you can’t teach important things to people in an entertaining way.

     After settling into the boarding house, Tolkien, just 16 years old, met a young woman named Edith Bratt. First they formed a great friendship, but soon their feelings began to change and they fell in love. After Father Morgan found out about their relationship, he separated the couple. (W.J. Rayment, A Bio)

     In all genres and styles of writing, character dependencies are developed. The good guy always depends on his friends, the bad guy never depends on anything except evil. Such dependencies are developed in JRR Tolkien’s Fellowship of The Ring. The most prevalent of these is the one between Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. These two characters are brought together and bonded in a variety of ways.

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

J.R.R. Tolkien had an extremely interesting life filled with real adventures and fictional adventures in his many books and poems. Tolkien had rough patches in his life, but this made him a more enriched person. His work is influenced by his many travels and the people he met during them. Tolkien’s many books and poems show his love of adventure and his wild imagination. The life, career, and poetry of J.R.R. Tolkien was remarkable for its time period and is still influential to this day.

Tolkien was born in on January 3, 1892 in South Africa. While he was three Tolkien moved to England with his mother which led him to create an interest for English life which he reflected within his stories. While attending school in Birmingham,Tolkien had a great interest with languages, he even created his own languages and alphabet. From his excellence in writing and language Tolkien received a scholarship to Oxford. While attending Oxford, Tolkien even furthered his writings by studying medieval literatures. Soon after graduating, World War 1 begun, and Tolkien enlisted. Before he departed to france as a signal officer, he married a girl that he knew since he was little, Edith Bratt. During the war, Tolkien had caught an illness called Trench fever which had him sick for about a year. While he was ill he he wrote his first novel The

Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa to Mabel and Arthur Tolkien. Tolkien’s father died when he was only 4 years old but that didn’t stop Tolkien (www.bio.com). His mother took quite an initiative in Tolkien’s Development. After a few years Mabel died of diabetes mellitus type 1. After her death he attended King Edward’s School and formed a secret society (collegecrunch.org). Tolkien was known as a catholic. He was a fierce anti-Communist and he shunned Nazism. The reason for this is because one he was catholic and two he had friends that were Jewish (collegecrunch.org)