The Industrial Revolution and the Fellowship of the

Ring

Born in 1892 Served as an officer

in World War One Writer of the Hobbit

and the Lord of the Rings trilogy

Powerful themes in his works

JRR Tolkien

The Shire represents England of the past prior to deforestation

Simplicity and isolation from the world

Idylic agrarian community

Tolkien was born long after this world (which never really existed) was gone.

Gandalf tells Frodo that Bilbo acquired the Ring because "there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker.”

Tolkien's tale is set as the Third Age of Middle-earth-the age of Elves, Wizards, and Hobbits-is drawing to a close,

The Fourth Age-the Age of Men-is about to begin.

Sam mentions the Wood-elves who are leaving Middle-earth altogether.

The Elves symbolize the transition from one age to the next,

Tolkien uses the Elves to underscore the transitory nature of this life: nothing lasts forever.

Themes and Symbols Continued

Sauron exemplifies the vision of evil as an essential force that simply exists as part of the universe. The Dark Lord’s evil physically spreads out over the land of Mordor and, later, over the rest of Middle-earth as well.

The wizard Saruman, on the other hand was once a figure of good, the leader of Gandalf’s order. Saruman was not born evil; rather, he has become corrupt out of arrogance and ambition.

Tolkien implies that human evil, though at times powerful, arises merely from illusion and self-deception, and is much more easily defeated than inherent or elemental evil.

The Tree Ent is slow and out of touch with reality

Takes revenge (clearly fantasy)