The Book That Is Being Read: Lord of the Rings

Dear Mr. Twain, When you said that ‘a classic is a book that everyone talks about but no-one reads’, I would usually have agreed with you. But in the case of The Lord of the Rings; Fellowship of the Ring, I would be forced to disagree, because among other things, people actually read it. Normally, classical literature is meant as a social commentary on something or a reflection of the author’s opinion on a topic. For instance, Fahrenheit 451 was written to warn people about what happens when ignorance takes over in place of knowledge.

Hawthorne wrote the Scarlet Letter to criticize how colonial Boston operated, as well as how people treated outcasts from their societies. While it may not be considered a classic, “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” analyzes what happens when distrust runs rampant through a community. Usually, they’ll have a central theme reflecting exactly what the author was trying to get across to their readers, whether it be a warning of what’ll happen if x problem continues, or just a moral.

Whatever it is, the current theme is always more than surface deep, forcing the reader to do a some analysis before they find it.

Though, when the theme is found, it has a certain effect on readers, allowing for it to remain prevalent as time goes on. That certain effect, of course, is cultural impact. When a classic manages to make an impact, it always goes big. How many times have you heard the phrase Big Brother? Seen a slasher movie? Remember communism? Have you ever heard about hell having levels? All of these came from classical works of literature,* which proves that because of the cultural impact, classics have value.

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Albeit, there was one classic in particular I wanted to write to you about: the Lord of the Rings; the Fellowship of the Ring. In it, a hobbit named Frodo Baggins inherits a ring from his cousin, Bilbo, that originally belonged to an ancient warlord named Sauron. Frodo & his friend, Sam, leave their small town & after awhile, walk into a farm on the outskirts of the Shire.

There, they find Pippin & Merry, two other hobbits that Sam & Frodo are friends with. Though, after they meet up, they find out that they’re being chased by ringwraiths, servants of Sauron drawn to the ring. The four hobbits begin fleeing the ringwraiths until they take a ferry to Bree, a town where they agreed to meet Gandalf, a powerful wizard. Unfortunately, Gandalf had went to go meet with a wizard friend of his, who lived in Isengard & berayed Gandalf for Sauron. So, they instead stay with Strider, a bounty hunter in the same hotel as them.

He suggests that they head to Rivendell, a well protected city of elves. On the way there, the party is attacked by ringwraiths, & Frodo gets stabbed by one of their poisoned knives. Needing an antidote, they rush towards Rivendell & along the way, find one of Strider’s elven friends, Glorfindel, who takes Frodo into the city on horseback. After he recovers, Frodo attends a meeting with several other dignitaries and Gandalf. The meeting begins to go downhill, but Frodo volunteers to take the ring to Mordor, and a few others volunteer to go with him, including Boromir, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf, & Strider, who is revealed to be Aragorn, the heir of Gondor, making him Boromir’s king. Sam, Merry, & Pippin join them to make the Fellowship of the Ring.

Before they set off to Mordor, Frodo sees Bilbo, who’d chosen to retire in Rivendell. He gives Frodo his old sword Sting, which glows blue in the presence of orcs, as well as a stab-proof coat of chainmail. Frodo thanks him, & the Fellowship leaves town, heading for the Misty Mountains, which would be the easiest way to avoid spies. Although, the path they took in the mountains gets too hard to trek, and they turn back to go into the Mines of Moria, a place that used to be a large dwarven stronghold, but has since been abandoned. They walk for awhile, Gandalf gets stumped, and Gollum follows them around for awhile.

They walk around for a bit more before finding the tomb of Moria’s last king, and with it, a book describing an ominous threat. As they close it, orcs storm into the room & bring a cave troll. The Fellowship runs away, making it to a bridge before a demon called a Balrog reveals itself to have been following them. Gandalf ushers everyone else across before declaring that the Balrog may not cross, breaking the bridge in two before falling down with it. The party continues fleeing for a little while before stopping to grieve.