Leaf By Niggle Essay

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If you were told to think of a blessing, your mind might first go to winning the lottery, or being given enough chocolate cake to last a lifetime. A kind heart would probably not be your first choice. Sometimes, however, a kind heart is the greatest blessing one can obtain. Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien is a short story about one man’s experience with a kind heart. In this story, Niggle’s fate is decided by two voices, one commending him for his kind heart, the other criticizing him for his thoughtless demeanor. Niggle’s kind heart is a blessing because it redeems him in the end. To prove this, we will first look at how Niggle’s kind heart drives him to help other people. Then we will see how Niggle’s kind-heartedness forces him to do the tasks that the community has placed on him, and do them well, despite only wanting to work on his painting. Next we will look at Niggle’s kind heart as a whole and see that his fate depends on his heart. In the end, we will hopefully understand why Niggle’s kind-heartedness is so important. …show more content…

His inability to say no without feeling guilty, “land[s] him in a good many odd jobs for his neighbor[s],” (Niggle, 1). When his fate is being decided by two Voices, the voice in Niggle’s favor says that “he never expected any Return, as so many of his sort call it,” (Niggle, 6). The Second Voice meant that Niggle never expected any praise of any favors for helping his neighbors, he saw this as something he had to do. This helps sway the Voices to give Niggle the gentle

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