Friday, March 1, 2013

The Return of the King -- Book Six

by J.R.R. Tolkien
   The last ship has passed out of sight into the West. My heart aches. I sigh. The Lord of the Rings has finally ended, and no more will I open the book to relive the horrors of Mordor, the simplicity of the Shire, or the last parting of dear friends: not until next January. Until then it will sit on my shelf and remain my all-time favorite book and, in my eyes, the most incredible piece of literature ever written.
   I feel sentimental still: though this post will appear later, I am writing it now on Friday, 22 February, 2013, and I only finished The Return of the King, the last part in Tolkien's masterpiece, about twenty minutes ago. I'll try to shake off these feelings.
   Once again, Tolkien heads to the POV of Frodo and Sam. He uses Sam more often than Frodo, which makes me wonder: Who, really, is the main character of The Lord of the Rings? I'm sure almost everyone will say it's Frodo, and I'm half-inclined to agree with them; but I also favor Sam a little. Until The Two Towers: Book Four, he rarely (if ever) used Sam's POV, and I'm wondering if he changed because portraying Frodo's suffering would be so much easier through the eyes of another character. Sam is one of the most well-done characters in the book, I deem, with his much more "individual" speaking style and his astoundingly loyal personality. Frodo's pain is acute, but no longer is he just a simple Hobbit from the Shire: I look on him in this half as certainly the wisest of the four Hobbits and possibly wiser than some of the rest of the Fellowship of the Ring.
   Book Six begins with Sam next to the Tower of Cirith Ungol, where Frodo lies in capture by Mordor's Orcs. Sam must find a way to loose Frodo so that the Quest and the destruction of the Ring does not fail. That's all I'll say of the plot-line itself, but here's another bit of info about this half: As the Ring moves closer to Mount Doom, dread may clench your chest and the weight of the Ring may fall on you as it falls on Frodo. And at the end of The Lord of the Rings I can almost guarantee a bittersweet sorrow, one that longs for reassurance for the fates of the rest of the Fellowship, one that wishes Tolkien had written more about them.
   What else can I say? Actually, I need to go make waffles, so I'll catch you later :) If you've made it this far in The Lord of the Rings, congratulations. Tell me what you're thinking of it, whether you've read it before, whether you love it or hate it. Thanks for reading this series, guys! Until next year, Frodo and Sam and Merry and Pippin and the rest of you!

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
-- J.R.R. Tolkien 
  

2 comments:

  1. It has ended. For you, and for me (As you know, I've finsished reading this magnificent book a few days ago). But even though it is over, I still feel connected to Tolkien's exceedingly brilliant world he created, and the characters have become my friends. I love how sincere your thoughts and feelings were, and I can relate to them! I, too, feel that 'The Lord of the Rings' is the most incredible piece of literature ever written.

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    1. Thanks for reading this series, Audrey :) The Lord of the Rings is very personal to me. . . . I'm not sure exactly why: if it's because I've read it pretty much once a year since 2009-2010, if it's because the world is so akin to my fantasy, or what. But I love it. And it was sad to see it end.

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