Good and Evil in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Zeppelin's Ramble On - Research Paper Example

 A Myth Analysis Paper On JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings And Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On Abstract The fight between good and evil has been the theme of many stories told from ages long ago until the contemporary times. This myth is the reflection of man’s own struggle as deals with the contradictions replete in his society and within himself. In fact, this can be clearly seen in the messages of many artistic works. From visual arts, literature, and music, the theme has been made a staple, depicting the epic battle of both. The more recent art forms, despite its commercial objectives, continue to use the theme. Movies, for example, always seem to have this portrayed. No matter how complex the stories are weaved, the bottom line is still simply the clash between two types of characters; the good and the bad, the protagonist and the antagonist. In this paper, a brief discussion is made on JRR Tolkien’s phenomenal book The Lord of the Rings can passing up as one of the most classic example of how the myth is upheld in contemporary times. A song by Led Zeppelin, Ramble On, is also a subject in the discussion because it shows how even a modern rock band cannot ignore such myth. A Myth Analysis Paper On JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy novel by JRR Tolkien. This is epic story is started as a sequel to The Hobbit an earlier work of the author, which was a simple fantasy book written particularly for children. However, Tolkien developed it into a complex tale of the usual theme of good versus evil. He wrote it in stages in the period between 1937 and 1949. Tolkien was fascinated with pre-Christian Scandinavia, studying the Norse mythology as well as that of English and Irish folk tales. Along with his firm Roman Catholic faith, these fascinations influenced the main subject of his book, which is the undying story between good and evil. The characters in the book were quite consistent with the qualities found in the gods, demons and mortals prominent in Norse mythology. His idea of the Middle Earth as the object of the fight for control between the protagonists and the forces of Mordor is reflective of the distinctly Christian belief of the world being the battleground of God and the devil and men as weaklings who tend to sway allegiance between the two forces. The monomyth of good and evil is basically found not just in the struggle between the forces of the Fellowship of the Ring and that of the Dark Lord of Mordor. It is also displayed within the character of the protagonists also. The Fellowship of the Ring is composed of nine unique individuals given the task of destroying the One Ring, which rules all other Rings of Power, in the cracks of Mount Doom, the place where it was forged. However, as the story unfolds each of those characters in the Fellowship had moments of weakness, when they have contradictions within themselves, to hold strong to their objectives or to succumb to the temptations of grabbing the One Ring and possess the great powers it gives. The human frailties borne out of weakness were displayed in Aragorn, who had second thoughts of joining the Fellowship because he did not want to leave Arwen. The worse human weakness was portrayed by the selfishness of Boromir, who joined the Fellowship but also because he wanted to have an opportunity of wearing the Ring himself. Other characters who do not belong to the Fellowship showed the same. Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit, at one point, did not want to let go of the Ring. Gollum, after having the Ring for some time, became murderously obsessed with it. Saruman, a wizard friend of Gandalf, was corrupted by it and by Sauron, the Dark Lord. As with Frodo Baggins, his is the basic plot of how a hero is developed. His story is that of the three major components of the monomyth. Actually, he plays the central character of the novel. The first component is his separation and departure from Shire, home of his childhood. He leaves at that point in time when he is still dealing with pre-adolescent youth. The second component is his initiation to the battle between good and evil when he has to deal with powerful warrior characters, friends or foes, as he and the Fellowship journey to Mount Doom. In this part, he fights demons, experienced a false death, and realizes the strengths that he possesses. The third component was when he returns to Shire and enjoys the prizes of his victory, and his newly discovered strengths with others. Tolkien’s famous book had greatly influenced the music of Led Zeppelin, a well-known British rock band in the 70’s. While many of its hit songs showed this influence, it is Ramble On that explicitly mentioned the characters of the book. At the surface, lyrics seem to refer only to the search for a perfect girl. However, a particular stanza nearing the end of the song exposes the real meaning. The girl of co-songwriters’ Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s dreams is the higher form of freedom achieved by getting rid of the object of struggle between good and evil, which was the One Ring. Mine's a tale that can't be told, My freedom I hold dear; How years ago in days of old When magic filled the air, T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor I met a girl so fair. But Gollum, and the evil one crept up And slipped away with her. Aside from this song from Led Zeppelin, various other contemporary works of art have been made with messages and themes much influenced by the Lord of the Rings. In fact, movies have been made on the trilogy. The Fellowship of the Rings was released in 2001, The Two Towers in 2002, and the Return of the King in 2003. The movies won Academy awards because of cinematographic values. However, what made it popular hits the world over was partly because it carries the ages-old monomyth of good versus evil. Even to this very day, it is a formula that is so true that any visualization or verbalization in unique ways can still capture the interest of peoples worldwide. This theme transcends cultural and religious boundaries. As long as contradictions exist, people will always want to see portrayed in artistic or even fantastic ways. They will always like to see how good battles and defeats evil in the end. References Influences on The Lord Of The Rings, National Geographic Society Jody G. Bower, The Lord of the Rings – An Archetypal Hero’s Journey, Green Books Read More