“Leaf by Niggle”

In our last discussion, we talked about how this story might be a reflection of Tolkien on himself as a writer. How this story might depict how he was never satisfied with his work. How he never accomplished as much as he wanted. And how what he managed to actually get out was only a pale comparison to the vision he actually had. Well, that’s quite telling in and of itself as what he produced is incredible and so detailed so I can’t imagine what it actually could have been if his vision was fully realized. That’s a whole other discussion in itself, but not what I really want to look at. 

What I’m interested in exploring here is another possible interpretation for this story, one I had upon initially reading it, after looking past the not so subtle spiritual allegory aspect of it, this story could also be read, in my opinion, as a tale on the method of creating something artistic, whether that be a piece of art, a piece of writing, music, or whatever one’s artistic fancy may be. 

It details all of Niggle’s struggle to work on and get done this painting he wishes to accomplish, such as his responsibilities and his own lack of commitment. Then it shows how one sometimes has to put their work aside, not even think about, look at it, or consider it for a time. And then one can come back to it with fresh eyes and start anew, and possibly finally be able to realize the vision they’ve been striving for but have been unable to accomplish until now. That was the impression I took away from reading this story, pushing aside the idea that heaven is where all your greatest aspirations are realized, which is a nice thought but not a fulfilling one.