Temptation to the Max
Kathleen E. Gilligan wrote the article Temptation and the Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring to show a relation between Tolkien’s books and religion. Gilligan brings information to her audience that they probably never heard or even bothered to ponder about. Gilligan says that people believed the Tolkien’s novels of The Lord of the Rings were to be about Christianity. Even though Tolkien denied ever meaning for his novel to be about Christianity, people such as Anna Mathie(a writer of another aricle called “Baptizing-Middle Earth”) shows proof that Tolkien wrote letters, and among them was one saying Tolkien intended it to be consonant with Christian thought and belief.
Just as Gilligan is trying to get a message across in this article, most writers want their work to contain certain messages for their readers. In order to indicate the message that is in the novel and understand why its there, one must look at the author and his background, to see is any relations are in play when one compares the authors life to his book. The author may not realize the connections that they have with their own work. With Tolkien being a Christian really interests those are able to see the analogies of Christian thought and belief in The Lord of the Rings. This shows complete support to this novel being a religious reading.
Other relations that appear in two of Tolkiens novels consist of love. Such as the novel The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings. Sillmarillion talks of to lovers that are forbidden to love by their society. Just as the love of Aragorn and Arwen is for bidden due to their difference of being a man and an elf. Gilligan uses subjects like love , religion, and the relation of temptation and the ring to prove that there are similarities between the author and his work and that his work isn’t just for the entertainment of reading. She splits up these relations in paragraphs discussing them one by one get her message out more fully.
The comparison between temptation and the power of the ring is the main subject of this article that contains the message the Gilligan wants to get out. Temptation and its consequences has a big key in The Lord of the Rings. The ring isn’t some object of majestic beauty, it’s just a plain and simple ring made of pure gold and nothing else, but when someone is in its presence and focuses on it, it has a strange attraction the will cause one character that does not have to want it. If one has it they get a strange urge to want to use it. With using it the sensation of having the power becomes more addicting and the want increases. Once the ring is done with the owner it has it will betray them or lead them to their doom. It leads Smeagol to a life of pain and suffering, others were lead to their death. Just as in Christian beliefs, the serpent tempted Eve and the appearance of the fruit on the tree of knowledge being so appealing, Eve was punished and received her consequences that come along with the sin. Gilligan proves that authors have relations with their work even if the don’t know it and novels that are written just for entertainment may have messages the even its creator didn’t realize were there
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