The Imagery of Nature and Technology in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit

2908 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Nature and poetry

Forest decline, oil leakages, holes in the ozone layer. Pollution on land and under water, topics like these have dominated the news since the end of the twentieth century. People are becoming more and more aware of the side effects of their desperately wanted progress.
From a consider-the-environment reminder at the bottom of every email to a compulsory waste separation: Educational advertising and environmental thinking has started to influence almost all parts of everyday life. Therefore it is not surprising that ecocriticism as a literary discipline has been enjoying great popularity since the late 1980s, starting in the US the criticism smoothed its way to Europe not much later (Curry 238).
Even if ecocriticism is claimed to be a relatively young literary approach, artists like the British poet William Wordsworth or the American writer Henry David Thoreau had filled their works with descriptions of the beauty of nature and its need for protection far before those topics were shown on the news (ibid. 239). Another of those ahead-of-his-time artists was also the British writer J.R.R. Tolkien. His major works The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings-Trilogy (1954-55) are especially famous for their sometimes several pages long descriptions of the sublime nature of Middle-earth. Tolkien was not the first writer to create a fantasy world, but in contrast to novels like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) or Through the Looking-Glass (1871), Tolkien’s world is far more complex and connected. He gave his fantasy-world its own past, languages and human as well as non-human cultures. But Tolkien especially avoided a pure symbolical reading of his work by connecting it to reality, particularly using his description of nature...

... middle of paper ...

... Tolkien Studies. Vol. 4 (2007): 238-244.
20.December 2013
Oxford English Dictionary (OED): “Green Man.” 24. December 2013

Shippey, Tom: The Road to Middle-earth. How J.R.R. Tolkien created a new Mythology.
Revised and Expanded Edition. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Steward, W. Christopher: “The Lord of Magic and Machines. Tolkien on Magic and
Technology.“ The Hobbit and Philosophy: For when you've Lost your Dwarves, your
Wizard, and your Way. Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson, eds. The Blackwell
Philosophy and Pop Culture Series. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2012, 147-160.
Tolkien, J.R.R.: The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Repr. London: HarperCollins, 2006.

Show More
Related

  • Similes In The Hobbit

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    This story begins with a small fellow by the name of Bilbo Baggins. This fantasy story was written in 1956 by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is about a hero’s journey through the dangers and wonders of Middle Earth. Although it was not meant to become such a well-known book, it is filled with much literature. Throughout the book, Tolkien uses literary devices such as repetition, similes, and metaphors to develop the theme of cunning and cleverness.

    Read More

  • Devil And Tom Walker Analysis

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Perceptions of the natural world have fluctuated throughout humanity’s short time on this earth, going in and out of style as societies and technologies have grown and died. As is the the very nature of literature itself, literature and its authors have managed to capture these shifting views, expressed and illustrated by the art of written word. Naturally, the literature chosen for us to read based on this fluid theme of nature encompasses an array of perspectives. One of these views is that nature is sublime and above all else, a reflection of all that which is perfection. Another is that nature is cold, uncaring, and indifferent to the vanities of humanity.

    Read More

  • The Heritage Foundation

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ehrlich, P. R., & Ehrlich, A. H. (1996). Betrayal of science and reason: How anti-environmental rhetoric threatens our future. Washington, D.C: Island Press.

    Read More

  • Theme of Change in The Hobbit

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    Change can be shown in many different ways through objects and persons. So how is change shown in The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien? It could be Bilbo, seen as it is, he is at first looked upon as a “cowardly” fellow who was scared to go ten feet from his hole. But as time grew throughout the adventure, it became noticeable how much Bilbo had change since the beginning of the trip. So overall, the theme of change in The Hobbit is, in fact, shown most through Bilbo because in the beginning of the story, he is hesitant and scared to go through with adventure, in the middle, he is starting to believe he can do it and risks himself, and by the end, he is showing bravery, and sometimes stupidity, above everything else. He had changed from an apprehensive Bilbo, to a courageous Bilbo by the end of the tale.

    Read More

  • Comparing Good and Evil in Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

    2386 Words  | 5 Pages

    · Urang, Gunnar. "J. R. R. Tolkien: Fantasy and the Phenomenology of Hope" Religion and Fantasy in the Writing of C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and J. R. R. Tolkien. United Church Press, 1971

    Read More

  • Environmental Issues In Silent Spring

    2441 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1989, seventy five percent of Americans identified themselves as environmentalists, and the number has continued to grow since then (Walls 1). Environmentalism is now the most popular social movement in the United States, with over five million American families donating regularly to environmental organizations (Walls 1). Environmentalists today focus on what kind of world they hope to see in the future, and largely deal with limiting pollution and changing consumption rates (Kent 1 and 9). Modern environmentalists also have much different issues than those Carson’s America faced. With climate change becoming more threatening each year, protection of the natural world is needed more than ever. Pollution has caused the warmest decade in history, the deterioration of the ozone layer, and species extinction in extreme numbers (Hunter 2). It not only threatens nature, but also human populations, who already suffer from lack of clean water and poisoning from toxic chemicals (Hunter 16). Unlike environmental actions in the 1960’s, which were mostly focused on protection, a massive increase in pollution has caused efforts to be focused on environmental restoration (Hunter 16). Like in the time of Silent Spring, environmentalists are not only concerned with one country. Protecting the environment remains a global issue, and every nation is threatened by the

    Read More

  • Environmental Text: Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl

    1807 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nature writing can be found in numerous genres and each can portray different opinions, thoughts, examples, solutions, etc. Therefore, setting up a general set of guidelines allows people the opportunity to define what is meant by nature writing. Defining genre can be highly influential when readers are trying to capture the essence of what they are reading. Lawrence Buell’s four criteria for what constitutes an “environmental text,” provide a basic set of understandable guidelines. However, as the criteria stand they are too directed at the factual context and overlook the “experience” or emotional resonance of reading such works.

    Read More

  • The Hobbit: Thematic Analysis

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Hobbit, written by John R. R. Tolkien, is a fantasy novel published on September 21, 1937. It was written as a prelude to the famous series, The Lord of the Rings, written seventeen years later. The Hobbit introduces the reader to an incredibly immersive fantasy world, that enriches the reader into its epic storyline. The story takes place in a land called Middle-earth, a land filled with enchanting surprises and magical wonders. It was the perfect playground for Tolkien to develop his main character Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo Baggins was a small hobbit, who unaware in the beginning would become a large role in the plot. It is through this character that Tolkien implemented the theme of heroism into the story. Bilbo’s unexpected adventure with the dwarves and the wizard gave him the opportunity to develop into the ultimate hero of Tolkien’s tale. Bilbo’s epic journey to become the hero of the story begins when Gandalf, the wizard, tells Bilbo of an expedition that would soon change his life forever.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Nature In Lord Of The Rings

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nature plays an important and powerful role in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Often, it is used to Shakespearean effects, in order to foreshadow doom. At other times, descriptions of the “green earth,” in particular, are used to render Middle-Earth into an almost maternal, life-giving persona. One could argue that these descriptions of “green earth” take on a life of their own, treating place as character. After all, places in Lord of the Rings often possess multi-dimensional qualities and are capable of change. In Aragon’s words, the “green earth” is “a mighty matter of legend” (The Two Towers 424). “Mighty” is not always the most appropriate word for places or objects, except when they hold power—perhaps even autonomously so. For example,

    Read More

  • The Plot in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit

    2068 Words  | 5 Pages

    Tolkien describes, "It had a perfectly round door . . . the door opened on to a tube-shaped hall

    Read More

  • I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

    732 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nature is often a focal point for many author’s works, whether it is expressed through lyrics, short stories, or poetry. Authors are given a cornucopia of pictures and descriptions of nature’s splendor that they can reproduce through words. It is because of this that more often than not a reader is faced with multiple approaches and descriptions to the way nature is portrayed. Some authors tend to look at nature from a deeper and personal observation as in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, while other authors tend to focus on a more religious beauty within nature as show in Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty”, suggesting to the reader that while to each their own there is always a beauty to be found in nature and nature’s beauty can be uplifting for the human spirit both on a visual and spiritual level.

    Read More

  • Greatest injustice

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the past 40 years the greatest injustice has been happening in the world: twenty percent of the Amazon Rainforest has been cut down. The people who cut down the trees are profiting from the theft of timber and land from the inhabitants of the Amazon Rainforest. Its native tribes are being forced out by the black market sellers and are losing their homes. Mass extinctions of animal species have been occurring and will keep happening with the industrializing companies invading the largest natural rain forest in the world. With twenty percent of it already destroyed, oxygen in the atmosphere has decreased significantly. Every year an area larger than the state of Maryland will be destroyed along with the ecological humans, plants, and animals that reside there.

    Read More

  • An Ecological Translation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    2 Simon. C. Estok, “A report Card on Ecocriticism”. AUMLA: The Journal of Australian Universities Language and Literature Association 96. Nov. 2001: 220.

    Read More

  • The Hobbit Themes

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    Far over the misty mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away the break of day, To seek the pale enchanted gold. Tolkien (21) The Hobbit is a story that takes place in Middle Earth-a fictional place with mystical creatures-created by J.R.R. Tolkien. The main character, Bilbo Baggins -a hobbit- is asked by a powerful wizard named Gandalf to accompany a group of thirteen dwarves to take back there home. A mighty dragon named Smaug is guarding the land and heaps of gold and jewels.

    Read More

  • ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

    1653 Words  | 4 Pages

    Efforts to improve the standard of living for humans--through the control of nature and the development of new products--have also resulted in the pollution, or contamination, of the environment. Much of the world's air, water, and land is now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. As a result of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution.

    Read More

More about The Imagery of Nature and Technology in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit

Open Document