Sunday, March 1, 2020
Tolkien Forshadowing
As we have brought up many times in class, Tolkien loves his foreshadowing. We saw it many times in the Hobbit and are now seeing it in Lord of the Rings. Whats interesting about Tolkien is how small and subtle his forshadowing is. I'm sure we have all read a book or had someone tell us a story where the forshadowing was laid on way too thick and the ending is not at all a suprise. However, Tolkien does his very diffferently from this. Nothing is too small of a detail to be left unnoted, there are no accidents in the stories. From the hobbits greed shown in the mushrooms, even if unconventional, to Frodo's suprise at giving up the ring so easily to Tom Bombadil, Tolkien sews the seeds early for what the Ring will become to Frodo and his attachment to it. In addition to this, Tolkien shows the weariness to come, with each stage of the journey almost reflecting back to the last, yet each time they are able to overcome the hardships (except Boromir).
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In comparison to how some authors lay on the foreshadowing, I really enjoy Tolkien's way of doing it. It always makes the experience of both reading and analyzing his works that much more fun and interesting, especially when we make those connections.
ReplyDeleteI think the difference between Tolkien's foreshadowing and that typically used by authors is that his is more thematic or it deals with the emotions of the characters. We've talked about in class how Tolkien is insistent on a happy ending and we know when reading LOTR that the ring must be destroyed for a happy ending. So any sort of foreshadowing regarding this part of the plot would be overkill. But what he can weave through his story is little indications of the emotional journey that his characters will go through. I"m sure plenty of good authors do this but it does stand out in Tolkien's work because his stories are so fantastical. But he doesn't let you forget that his characters are just people with weaknesses and desires and hopes.
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