April 28, 2002

Symbols and Paralells Unintentional
Danny S.

I find it interesting how the debate over symbols and allegorical elements continues. Tolkien stated that no symbols paralells were intended. That doesn't mean that a reader cannot glean out those he choses to see, nor does it mean that certain events in Tolkien's life didn't effect or influence his writing. It would be foolish to say that nothing going on around Tolkien when he was writing didn't influence the way he thought, felt and wrote.

I am an amateur writer myself (never claiming to be near the capabilities of Tolkien), and when I write, I don't intend to put symbols or allegories in my stories. Sometimes however, I am surprised to look back and see many things that can be interpeted symbolically and related to events in my life from the time I was writing.

An example of this, I think, is the passage of the marshes in the Two Towers. I cannot explain it well, but have had someone more familiar with the history and life of a soldier during WWI explain it. Tolkien fought in the trench warfare, and from what I understand had a nervous breakdown and was sent home. Anyway, my point is that Tolkien's experiences in the trenches have an influence in the way he describes the dead marshes. It is even easier to see I beleive in the large battles at Helms Deep and Minas Tirith. You can tell that Tolkien's blood was boiling when he wrote, and I feel he was in some ways reliving the fear, violence and horror of war as he wrote those chapters.

You don't have to beleive me, or agree with me, but I beleive that any writer leaves pieces of himself on the pages he writes. Their beleifs, feelings, and life changing events reflect in the stories they create. It is for this reason that we can glean our own allegories out of the story and even paralels to events in his time. It doesn't have to be intentional. If you ask me, the more a writer pours his heart and life into a work, the more of him he puts onto the page.

So to sum it up, Tolkien didn't design LOTR as a sweeping allegory, or paralell to events in his time. He set out to create a fabulous story for a wide audience and he succeeded like no author ever has, and maybe ever will. Writing those books was a huge part of his life over a long period of time. I beleive that he put so much of his heart into the story that it is possible to find ways that his life influenced it. So I say, that although Tolkien didn't originally intend for his work to be an interpeted symbolic work, pieces of his life can be found in his writing. Because, it wasn't built around symbols or paralells, it is able to be so widely read and enjoyed, but those who want a deeper look into Tolkien's life can find insight if they make the effort.