[CLUE-Talk] Tolkien and allegory

[Timothy C. Klein]

* Dennis J Perkins (djperkins at americanisp.net) wrote:
> 
> 
> Timothy C. Klein wrote:
> 
> >* Dennis J Perkins (djperkins at americanisp.net) wrote:
> Uhm, Zonker did not say this.  I did.

Oops, overzealous in the snipping!.

> >As for Tolkien, he has denied that he wrote it as an allegory.  Fine.
> >But if one is going to try to understand why it was/is immensely popular,
> >then allegorical argument are certainly going to come into play.  People
> >don't intrinsically care about Middle Earth.  Using arguments based on
> >symbol, allegory, etc. to justify its popularity is fine -- indeed,
> >probably absolutely required.
> >
> But if you insist on using allegory when Tolkien despised allegory, 
> aren't you misinterpreting the story?

That's not what I really mean.  Tolkien said his work was not
allegorical, and I take him at his word.  I think he was specifically
saying that it was not an allegory on WWII and Nazism.

What I am trying (poorly) to say is that there is still reason to look
at Tolkien in an allegorical light.  *Not* to understand what Tolkien
was trying to say, but rather to understand why it is so popular.  A lot
of people, I think, make the story into their own allegory of good vs.
evil.  That is why so many like it.  I don't think that is a problem.  The
story can take on any personal meaning we want -- it is just worth
knowing that Tolkien didn't want it to be anything other than a good
story.

It is not overtly political, which is important to realize. And there is
no textual analysis that could say it was so. Heck, I even heard people
saying that the Orcs == Al Queda after 9/11. That is just silly, and is
the kind of thing that Tolkien wanted to avoid.

But, it is very easy to see that story in that kind light, hence its
popularity.

> What version of Hello_World are you running?  My error count is much 
> higher. :)  

Ha!  Someone laughed at the sig!  Yay!  I just think that is hilarious.

Tim
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== Hello_World.c: 17 Errors, 31 Warnings... ==
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