lord of the rings metaphor question?

Question

For any hardcore fans out there,don't hate me,it is just a question.
Does this story represent world war 2?Is the one ring suppose to be nuclear power that every one is scrambling to get?Do the elves represent the Americans who leave after the war?I love to read,but i did not read these books until late because when i was 10 ,a boy suggested them as something that I might like,but because he was younger I thought they were childrens books.Also,does anyone think that Harry Potter can compare?

Answer 1

His work is not allegorical it is applicable. He never used direct from real life experiences consciously like "this = that". He intended for his readers to use their own life experiences to enrich their own personal version of the story. He wanted us to use our own imagination!!! Harry Potter is better in some ways and the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings is much better in other ways LOTR RULES!!!
No hatred just info!!

Answer 2

As with any creative piece of work there can be many interpretations. I think you are able to see those representations because of what a previous answer said - classic story of good and evil. As a huge (but not hardcore!) LoTR fan and huge Harry Potter fan, I see the similarities right away. They are both gripping stories that reach all age groups written by extremely talented people. (Of course the similarities run much deeper than that too!) I remember reading the Hobbit when I was a child, and I also remember the Hobbit as a cartoon. This leads me to believe that both of these stories (LoTR and HP) were originally intended for children or young adults. Don't fret about snobs hating your question. The idea that someone else with their preferences and interpretations would come down on you for your own creative metaphor is sad.

Answer 3

This is a chance to exercise your brain. If you see elements of WW2 or WW1 in the story; run with it..do some research about the wars then go back and re-read LOTR carefully and make notes as you read that support or refute your theory. Listen to others, but make up your own mind. Even if you are wrong, at least you are thinking originally...which you can bet your bottom dollar is more than 99% of the readers ever do.

Just because someone writes that JRRT absolutely refutes that the story was about WW2 doesn't mean that he ever said that and even if he did; artists are human beings and are not able to step outside themselves to say definitively did or did not influence them.

Jews=Dwarves? Maybe...

Answer 4

you could compare The Ring to nuclear power but , I would compare it to King Arthur's - The Holy Grail or Gilgamesh's -eternal life, Perseus - head of Medusa ...all items coveted, wanted almost unattainable and always unmanagable once gotten. I always felt that the stories that would have influenced JRRT would have been the true classics -Homer's Illiad, Dante's Divine Comedy, Plato's Republic, King Arthur, even Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass seems reflected in his work...
As for Harry Potter, I love the books but they are not the epic drama that is the classic, Lord of the Rings

Answer 5

I' ve heard about it too. It looks interesting but it is hard to fit all the details. The Hobbits look very english indeed, but what about Saruman (Musolini maybe but doesn't fit really good), and Aragorn? Should Rohan and Minas Tirith represent some countries? (France?)
Another thing is that he wrote it between 1937 and 1949 so he probably had most of the story before the war was finished.
Well, its a nice idea but I don't think it realy works.

Answer 6

JRR Tolkien was vehement about this point, LOTR is not based on World War ll. Reportedly, there are some parts of the book that seem based on events in Tolkien's life while he was a soldier in WWl, most notably the scene where Frodo sees the faces of the dead in the Dead Marshes,but that does not mean the story is based on a world war in regular earth.

Answer 7

Many discussions of JRRT's work draw correlations with his religious faith. But it could just be a sign of the times that Christians embraced LOTR and rejected Harry Potter when they are both battles between good and evil. Both Golam and "he who shall not be named" were both seduced by power (by the "dark side" to bring in another work).

Answer 8

Tolkien wrote these books long before WWII. While I like Harry Potter, they are more juvenile.

Answer 9

The Lord of the Rings saga, by J.R.R. Tolkien, provides an astonishingly accurate and deep reaching perspective of our resent time, all wrapped up in metaphors in a tale about an imaginary land called Middle Earth. Allow me to invite you to explore the metaphors in a way that is completely unique.
The saga of The Lord of the Rings is a tale of elves, dwarves, hobbits, and men, which together represent our humanity with proud names like Arwen Evenstar, Aragorn, Elrond, Eowyn, Frodo Baggins. It is also a tale about wizards that represent the human intellect, from the grandest, like Gandalf, to the worst, like Sauron the mother of all 'pigs.' It can also be seen as a tale of a people boxed in; some into a fortress of stone like Helms Deep; some into a prison created by axioms, believes, and policies of insanity like our nuclear defense doctrine of "Mutually Assured Destruction." Boxed in, can also mean 'privatization,' like the conscience of the king of Rohan became 'privatized' by the corrupted wizard Saruman under the spell of a Grima Wormtongue.

Above all the saga is a tale of a ring of power and corruption, the tale of a Gollum creature that represents the process that causes people to grovel for the glitter of wealth that few ever use, 'singing', "My Precious! My Precious!" even as they perish. It is also a tale of our darkest history in which great men of infamy proudly stand tall with names like Adolf Hitler, Martin Heidegger, Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Schmitt, Leo Strauss, Joseph Geobbels, Bertrand Russell; and similar names from more distant times, names like Francis Galton, Charles Darwin, Thomas Malthus, Giamaria Ortes, Thomas Hobbes; and names whose ghost may yet destroy us all, like that of Shelburne, Bentham, Napoleon; and of course Aristotle, the 'mother' of all their 'fame.'

The saga of the ring is a tale of war, greed, power, and fear. It is equally a tale of love, sublimity, and immortality; a tale of struggles for survival and for a brighter humanity, that are represented in the real world by such names as Friedrich Schiller, Gottfied Leibnitz, Lyndon LaRouche, and Mary Baker Eddy. The saga is a tale of trials, disappointments, and victories; a tale that presents to us in metaphors our own image and our own hopes, and also our strengths as human beings. Allow me to invite you to an exploration of the rich metaphors of Tolkin's saga, The Lord of the Rings.


Follow this link for more also:

http://lordoftherings.rolf-witzsche.com/
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Answer 10

harry potter rules, no comparision!!!!

anyway, i get what ur saying, that could possibly be true, but wasnt it written before WWII? or was that the hobbit?