Dreams Fulfilled

Blog Fantasy
Post 11 - The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

Comparison of The Fellowship of the Ring (Book) to the The Fellowship of the Ring (Movie):

In the book titled, The Fellowship of the Ring, by JRR Tolkien, the author gives a vast description of how the evil Sauron rises again. As apart of the descriptions Tolkien says, “The Dark Tower had been rebuilt, it was said. From there the power was spreading far and wide, and away far east and south there were wars and growing fear. Orcs were multiplying again in the mountains. Trolls were abroad, no longer dull-witted, but cunning and armed with dreadful weapons. And there were murmured hints of creatures more terrible than all these, but they had no name” (43) to be quite specific. The movie titled, The Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson, on the other hand, provides less description of how Sauron rose. This fact was just plainly stated rather than elaborated as in the book.

Comparison of The Fellowship of the Ring to the The Hobbit:

In both The Fellowship of the Ring as well as The Hobbit, (both by Tolkien) the protagonists face a great danger. Bilbo, the protagonist in The Hobbit, comes face to face with Smaug, a grand and powerful dragon; and Frodo, the protagonist in The Fellowship of the Ring, has to face a similar challenge. In The Fellowship of the Ring, after Gandalf describes his challenge to Frodo, the atmosphere becomes ominous. Tolkien describes the scene as he writes, “A heavy silence fell in the room. Frodo could hear his heart beating. Even outside everything seemed still” (The Fellowship of the Ring, 57). Therefore in both books, the protagonists face a truly fearful challenge.

Why is one drawn to Fantasy Worlds? What properties or qualities do these worlds posses that make them so captivating to one?

Perhaps, one of the properties that Fantasy Worlds posses that make them so appealing is: they’re characters fulfill dreams. In The Fellowship of the Ring, by JRR Tolkien, Sam, a small town gardener, always dreamed about meeting elves. His ecitement to go on this journey to see elves is shown as he says, “Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!’ he shouted, and then burst into tears” (The Fellowship of the Ring, 63). This is an attractive quality because its allows the reader to experience the joy of the characters as they fulfill their life long goals. In a way, this idea is similar to living vicariously through the book’s characters (which is a topic on a previous post).

A Fantasy World that has people, who fulfill their dreams, therefore is a truly captivating world.