Fellowship Of The Ring Movie And Book Comparison Essay

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According to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work;”, expressing the inclusion of a religious theme in the novels. The first spiritual work of Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, was published in 1954. It is followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King, and all of them were produced into movies by director Peter Jackson. Both the books and movies are set in Middle-Earth, an imaginary world created by Tolkien, and they deal with the Ring; a magical object that controls people. The story is mostly concerned with Hobbits who are smaller than Dwarves, not obtrusive, and love peace and quiet. Despite bearing some superficial similarities, the differences between the first …show more content…

The movie includes the battle that Rohan’s army fights against Orcs, which represents good versus evil. Even though people might picture Jesus as good and Satan as evil during the scene, it is difficult to connect the movie to Christianity. Whereas, the sacrifice of Frodo and Gandalf in the book directly exhibits Jesus. Frodo had a generous life after he had inherited Bilbo’s possessions. However, Frodo realizes the dangers of the Ring and willingly leaves his comfort zone in order to save others’ lives. Gandalf also sacrifices his life on the bridge, fighting against the Balrog, for the sake of the Fellowship. These behaviors are correlated to Christ. 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually.” Jesus surrendered himself on the cross for the sins of the world so that people can have eternal life. The sacrifices throughout the novel represent Christ’s surrender. On the contrary, there is no correlation between the battles in the movie and Jesus. According to Devin Brown, Tolkien claimed that religion is absorbed into the Lord of the Rings. However, the film does not indicate Christianity as much as the book does. The novel reminds people of Jesus Christ through Tom Bombadil, the journey that the Company takes, and the sacrifice of characters.

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