The Hobbit and Evil

http://shadowsofhistory.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/the-hobbit-and-evil/ ^

[truthfinder9]

Some may see the films or books as just entertainment, but Tolkien spent a lifetime creating a mythos with far more detail than most writers ever imagine. An Oxford professor, he approached his writing as if it were a scholarly pursuit. Yet it was still entertaining and captivating, full of themes and message (though he never intentionally preached, so to speak, his beliefs informed his work). That’s why it has endured for so long (The Hobbit was originally published in 1937, mainly directed at children. Don’t see many children books like this anymore, do we?).

Tolkien drew on many influences in creating Middle-Earth. Most notably his Christian worldview, from which one of his most important themes came:

Evil exists.

[bigbob]

Good article. Re-reading LOTR for the Nth time, and am again struck by the parallels with WWII and the rise of Hitler. The Shire always remains in memory as that “shining city on a hill” in the minds of war-weary Hobbits far from home. Allegorically we can draw similar comparisons to the presence of evil in current times, and draw strength to go on fighting.

I am also reminded of the extent to which J.K. Rowling “borrowed” concepts and themes from Tolkein. Hopefully one day her readers will discover this, and enjoy Tolkein as well.

[EEGator]

I enjoyed the article as well. I think the movies will get many youths of the current generation to read the books.

[EEGator]

Just to add, lots of today’s youth have read Harry Potter and Hunger Games. They both have good and evil, and lessons to be learned from them. Hopefully the logical extension would be to read LOTR and Orwell’s 1984.