Lord of the Rings, The Meanings

Submitted by: qris24
Added: 2008-05-05 11:26:37     Rating:

I only have this one scene to interpret but I think it's accurate

First off let me say that I think The Hobbits represent teenagers. Why? Because they are called halflings, they are halfway between childhood and adulthood, they like to party, they like to eat, drink, smoke 'weed', in general just have a good time and not worry about too much.

And it's in a person's teenage years that they start to become who they are going to be for the rest of their life and all this is determined by what happens to them in childhood which leads me to the scene I'm going to attempt to interpret.

The scene is when they are in the drawf's mountain and Pippin knocks the suit of armour down the well which arouses the orcs and trolls. Gandoplh scolds Pippin and says "Why Don't you just throw yourself in next time and save us all the trouble" (I can't remember the exact line)

in other words 'Just kill yourself and we'll all be better off without you!" these are very harsh words for a child and especially coming from Gandolph who is the authority/father Figure. The Trolls and Orcs represent the negative feelings Pippin feels and the giant mountain troll is like a big baby that is being controlled by these negative feelings they have to over come this in order to move on, which of course they do.

That's a brief summary of what I think this one scene means and I believe the rest of the movie can be interpreted along these same lines.

Due to the fact the book was written during a good part of World War 2, I think this movie has a much deeper meaning.

Some have claimed that the ring itself was an allegory for the nuclear bomb, but I think that is too shallow. There is much more to learn from this film/novel.

If we think back to the time that this was written, how the author would have been feeling with the amount of evil and death surrounding him, it paints the picture perfectly.

First we have the good and the bad people, the greed and pride of men, the evil awaiting to corrupt them (Lord Sauron) and tempt them with power (the ring). Then we have the hobbits, who represent simple, earth and nature loving folk. The Elvs, Dwarves if you remember, were not friends and only join together when faced with the complete destruction of their world.

The pureness of the hobbits's hearts can also be corrupted by power, as shown when Bilbo gets the ring. This shows that we are all susceptible to these things whether we are good or not. But there was one, Frodo, as there is always one in life that helps the poor and brings justice to the wicked. And his is a very intense fight, a fight against the control of the evil lord, and a fight within himself to rebuke everything that is human in him, which would have him take the ring for himself.

I believe a lot of the rest to be for entertainment purposes but for the most part it is a moving story about how even in the darkest hour, people, no matter their colour or race (elf, dwarf etc or black, asian etc) will come together and fight for what is right. As did many countries during the holocaust and Hitler's rule. (Also Lord Sauron can be viewed as Hitler himself or any other evil person with power in our history).

You can also take away from this movie that even the poor souls corrupted by this evil, like Smeagle, still have some good in them, though in Smeagle's case, he had been so consumed by it that at the end he lost all sense of reason.

Interpret the movie as you see fit with the above in mind, watch it again, read between the lines. It is a very uplifting and heart warming film that means more than what meets the eye.

Submitted by: dupuis.j
Added: 2009-07-15 02:38:53     Rating:

This story is a very thematic one. The story of Frodo and Sam demonstrates the theme of losing innocence. From when sam leaves the shire to Frodo's realization in Rivendell that he would have to destroy the ring. As the story progresses, the two heroes degenerate and mature through their experiences.

The story or Arwyn and Aragon is a simple love story with the theme of life and how time affects it. Aragon's story is a story of realization, how he had to accept his duties as king because the people needed him.

The story had a brief theme on racism dealing with the conflicts and bias's of each race.

This is a story about good and evil and every conflict in between.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2010-01-06 15:19:03     Rating:

This movie (and the books) are altogether very complex and cannot be interpreted scene by scene to get the overall meaning of the Lord of the Rings. I think that the overall meaning of LOTR is just the basic good vs. evil scenario. A beautiful, complex story of the travels of good people (hobbits) that encounter evil in their journey through a time of trouble. Since J.R.R Tolkein was a Christian, I also believe that this has a Spiritual interpretation to it as well. Such as Frodo being the "savior" of the world by defeating the ultimate evil, Sauron. Sauron being the "Satan" figure in the trilogy. The fellowship would symbolize help that never gives up on you. In the bible, there is the continuous theme that God will always help us when something becomes to overwhelming for us. Gandalf would also represent some type of higher power, like God. Also when Gandalf sends Frodo on his journey initially in the first film, it's like God sending Jesus to become the sacrifice for our sins. Like Frodo becoming the sacrifice for the wrong of the world by going into "hell" (Mordor) and defeating evil forever.
I in no way want to offend anyone with my "religious" interpretation but this is just the way I see it.

A religious (Christian) interpretation would not be offensive to Tolkien who - like his good friend C.S. Lewis - discussed theology often. If you read Tolkien's The Silmarillion you will find that it begins with the creation of Middle Earth by a God figure. A fallen angel then seeks to work against his creational intentions (Sauron). My interpretation, which I am not alone in, is that Gandalf is the God of Middle Earth incarnate. Gandalf the Grey represents Jesus in the flesh. He sacrifices himself in the mines of Moriah. Notice in the movie as he falls he holds his hands out in the form of a cross. He sacrifices his own life to redeem the life of the rest of the fellowship and to defeat the power of evil. They had unintentionally led the Balrog to the exit of the mines and Middle Earth was in grave danger. Gandalf resurrects as Gandalf the White (resurrected Jesus returning to earth – the white mare is in Revelation chapters 6 and 19). In the movie, when he first appears to Aragorn and friends, they bow before him. He returns to set Middle Earth to rights, as Jesus promised to do. He overpowers Saruman, once his better, for the soul of the King of Rohan. He empowers and encourages all the heroes of good to rally in the final battle against evil. Aragon and Frodo represent humans who are called by God to fulfill their role in God's plan. Even to the point of giving up their life. As Sam and Frodo are about to die three eagles (a picture of the trinity) rescues them. They sail away to the undying lands (eternity). I think the dwarfs represent “others” – races, maybe even religions - who align themselves with Gandalf in the final battle. The elves are angels. Frodo adds his story to Bilbo's book and leaves pages for Sam to add to add an additional story – like the Biblical heroes seemed to do. Gollum represents the dualistic struggle of humanity between their evil (sinful) side and their good (created in the image of God) side. With the proper Sword (the Word of God - a New Testament concept), Aragorn summons a spiritual army to help him fulfill his call to battle evil. While the story can be interpreted numerous ways, there is no doubt Tolkien’s tale (and Peter Jackson's interpretation in the movie) is a reflection of the meta-narrative of the Bible.

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