Agbabiaka 1

Fikay Agbabiaka
Prof. Williams
English 101
June 26 2014

Good vs Evil
All men want power and wealth, but these virtues drive some men to the
other side, turning good men into monsters. Philip Zimbardo once said The line
between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it
when pressured by situational forces. The film Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the
Ring, shows how good and evil prevails in the world and the battles that happen both in
the fictional world written by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien and we world we live in
today.
Watching the film Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring and reading the
book for the first time, it is very easy to assume its a world different that the one we live
in today, yet the story was inspired by different situation we live in today. The world
described in the book by Tolkien was under the attack of evil against good, which
happens in our world. A rhetorical analysis of the book and film shows the authors
purpose, Colors, techniques and values used to communicate with viewers, and values
and lifestyles of the evils.
The authors purpose was to portray his experience and view of the world he
lived in. A theme that reoccurred numbers of times is the conflict between nature and
industry. According to National geographic, Tolkien had been raised in the outskirts of
Agbabiaka 2
Birmingham and loved nature and inner peace his surroundings gave him, it made him
feel safe, so you could understand when he lost his sanity with his fellow humans who
wanted to become wealthier at the expense of his beloved town. An experience he
showcased in the fictional world.
While life in the shire was peaceful, joyful and seemed secure there was waging
war, terror and unrest just outside the shire. The shadow of evil that was looming large
over Middle Earth. The dark lord, Sauron wanted to reclaim the one ring that he has
lost. Most of his was power was held in this ring and with this power; he can enslave the
whole world with his evil. When the hobbit found the ring, he learnt it was evil, he has
been extremely horrified just like Tolkien when he learnt about the industrial revolution.
Because of his childhood home and upbringing, he made an instant connection
between evil and machines by making the Shire a rural place and filling Mordor and with
machines, forges, fire, wheels, and other objects associated with manufacturing and
war. Saruman levels the trees surrounding the tower to fuel the fires that power the
machines.
The green of the shire represented peace and black and rainy represented the
corruption outside of the shire. The hobbits suffered through it while trying to get rid of
the ring they were aware that the evil was getting closer. According to History.com,
England joined World War one In1914, which Tolkien had to fight in, there was a power
war in middle Europe. This was an honorable thing to serve for the country and fight
evil. When the soldiers got to the front line they found that it wasn't as easy as they
assumed. The class differences which existed in England at the time began to change
has soldiers fought with and for each other regardless of wealth or class. The contrast in
Agbabiaka 3
Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring which had Frodo Garddins, a well off,
educated, 33 year old and his gardener, Sam who was in a lower class than Frodo but
became best friends and fought together. The friendship between Sam and Frodo is at
the heart of the story. But the friendship that develops between all nine of his
companions in the fellowship is equally important. Ralph Wood is certainly correct when
he says, Their friendship is the one thing that unites them at the beginning, sustains
them throughout their long ordeal, and enables the success of their Quest at the end.
The love of each person in the fellowship of the rings for the others is revealed in
the sacrifices the members of the fellowship. For example, Gandalf sacrifices himself for
the others in Moria, Boromir was killed in an effort to save the hobbits Merry and Pippin
and Aragorn and his army intend to sacrifice themselves at the black gate of Mordor to
help Sam and Frodo achieve their goal. A value and virtue Tolkien wanted to
communicate through his book and advocate. Ultimately, Frodo sacrificed himself for
middle earth and for the shire. As he explains to Sam: I tried to save the Shire, and it
has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so Sam, when things are in danger:
someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.
Tolkien clearly understood evil and inequality. This message was intended for
the public to encourage more race and class equality. According to imdb.com, it is
unclear whether Tolkien regarded Orcs as evils or just tools of the Dark Lord. The book
and film depicted very dependent race of evils. Orcs were reliant on the Dark Lord in
many ways; when their leader died the Orcs were confused, disorganized. . For
example During the Third Age the orcs were under the power of the Witch-King of
Angmar and Sauron in Dol Guldur and Mordor. Because of their disoriented and reliant
Agbabiaka 4
culture, it made it very easy for their enemy to triumph over them. According to William
D.B. Loos of Harvard University, Tolkien considered goblins and orcs to be the same,
He said It was part of a general trend away from the terminology of traditional folklore
He felt that the familiar words would stir the wrong associations in the readers' minds,
since his creations were quite different in specific ways. He also did the same thing by
calling the Deep Elves "Noldor" rather than "Gnomes", and avoided "Faerie" altogether.
The orcs of the Misty Mountains formed many Orcish societies under the
mountains, such as Goblin-town and Mount Gram. Tolkien never mentioned female
orcs, but the males were evil, cruel, wicked, and, and hated everybody and everything.
They werent fond of the orderly and prosperous either. For instance, Azog, the chief of
the Orcs of Moria, leader of the Misty Mountains killed Thrr. Thrr was a King of
Durin's Folk.
Overall, the film by Tolkien will forever be a classic because it was the first of its
kind. Tolkien created languages, pedigrees, and cultural histories of the peoples and
races that inhabit this film, which helps us to grasp some of the deeper gradations on
Tolkien massage on good versus evil. Although evil cannot be completely eradicated in
the present world, Tolkien admonished the readers for a better world, and showed the
different races and how they interacted with each other.





Agbabiaka 5
Word cited
"Goblins." The One Wiki to Rule Them All. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 June 2014.
Mathison, Keith. "Ligonier.org." Ligonier.org. Tabletalk Magazine, 1 Aug. 2011. Web.
14 June 2014.
"Orcs." The One Wiki to Rule Them All. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2014.
"THE LORD OF THE RINGS." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 14 June 2014.
"Trolls." The One Wiki to Rule Them All. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 June 2014.