Wednesday, September 12, 2018
The Choices We Make
Wrapping up The Hobbit, we discussed Tolkien's choices and our feeling towards them. There are things we like and things we don't like. While it is fun and even a little challenging to come up with other ways certain scenes or aspects could have been approached, they are they way they are, and we can only guess why Tolkien made his choices. He gives his characters flaws, and allows them to learn lessons and feel loss. Victory in a typical sense is not the same as the victory he gives his characters. A "happy ending" has a different meaning to Tolkien, and for that, his works are unique. I'm sure we all wish that we could fully understand Tolkien's thought process, and for those of us who enjoy writing, wish we could feel the same inspiration and dedication to creating a world with culture and language and races.
1 comment:
An important note to make is that in Tolkien's case, we can no longer ask him why certain choices were made. We can discuss why certain things were written a certain way but we sadly will not know why unless we find a specific answer in a letter or something similar. One thing to study regarding The Hobbit is the differences in tone, style and structure compared to The Lord of the Rings. We as scholars should attempt to look at these differences to find reasons behind the works and why they were created specific ways. As a writer, it helps to look at other works to see what is successful and what is not. Tolkien is not above being reviewed or critiqued, whether that is for good or bad, because it is important to view major writers for important aspects of their works.
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