Essay on Tolkien

          Frodo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey turned White and Aragorn seem to be the three undisputable main characters throughout The Lord of the Rings. However, this characterization appears to be problematic when it comes to Tolkien’s second novel in the series, The Two Towers. Frodo is absent throughout the entire third book, or half of The Two Towers, and once he finally appears, we are given a long travel log with little or apparent bearing on the main story. Is this a significant problem? If I were teaching a creative writing class, I would certainly dock a student who left a major character out for nearly 200 pages. However, Tolkien’s writing is far more advanced than that of your typical creative writing student. Instead, Tolkien uses Frodo’s absence as a crucial plot developer. Not a hair developer, but a plot developer. If Tolkien were to use a hair developer, not only would it stink, but as his creative writing teacher, I would dock him a significant amount of points. Unless, of course, he dyed his hair a color that was in line with the honor code.

          Once he finished dying his hair, I am sure he would return to the point of character and plot development. After all, he simply left Frodo and Sam hanging in the air. For all we know, they may have been eaten by dogs, or worse. Luckily for us, we know that they have not been eaten by dogs, although, they still have the ring and they have picked up a not-so-friendly creature named Gollum on the way. I’m not sure which is worse.