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The use of symbolism in the novel
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Evil is defined in multiple meanings. In J.R.R Tolkien’s works he describes evil in a variety of different ways. Like in the award winning book The Hobbit, evil is a big factor for the entire journey for the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf, and without the evil in The Hobbit the quest wouldn’t have been necessary. So the question is what is evil? The definition for evil is profoundly immoral and malevolent. Tolkien portrays evil in The Hobbit by using trolls, goblins, fire breathing dragons, and other mythical creatures.
The Necromancer is one type of evil in The Hobbit, and he lives in Dul Guldur. Dul Guldur is an old, run down castle where the head of all the black magic (that happens in Middle Earth) lives. The Necromancer is an evil power or spirit that can communicate with the dead using an evil type of magic. Gandalf stated “I found him [Thrain] a prisoner in the dungeons of the Necromancer”(Pg.25), and that shows how evil the necromancer and Dul Guldur really is. In The Hobbit the Necromancer is a foreshadowing of the leader of all the evil in J.R.R Tolkien’s other book series T...
What's the difference between good and evil? In John Gardner’s classic tale Grendel the line between good and evil is exceedingly blurred. Gardner does a phenomenal job of forcing the reader to question who the real hero of the story is. So is Grendel evil or simply misunderstood? To answer this question one must look at his basic character traits. Grendel is an unloving creature, he enjoys killing and torturing humans, and when he shows any sort of mercy, he later regrets it. Due to these facts it is impossible to label him as “good”.
Peter Jackson’s film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” revolves around a young hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins and his unique group of companions. They go on a journey to destroy the One Ring of Sauron (the Dark Lord). In short, the One Ring has malevolent powers to whomever wears it.
Good vs. Evil is portrayed in The Hobbit through many different events and characters throughout the novel. Showing us that what we may think, may not always be want it really is. Bilbo had no doubt in his mind they would fail on their mission. Yet with all odds against them they won, good defeated evil, just like in the Bible God watches out for his children and protects them from evil, but they have to make the right choices, and work for his respect and honor.
From the beginning of creation to the fictitious lands created by J. R. R. Tolkien himself, the distinctions between good and evil rise from the shadows and into the light. Specifically, in the Confessions of St. Augustine all things created through the light of God are seen as wholly good, while the absence of such light and goodness is considered evil. Tolkien’s novel elaborates on the work of Augustine and establishes the differences between forces of good and evil in the land of Middle Earth. Augustine and Tolkien in their works Saint. Augustine Confessions and The Fellowship of the Ring address the issues that arise from an individual 's struggle to escape the temptations of evil and succumbing to their lust for power rather than asserting
As children, we were taught that good and evil were black and white terms. The fairy tales that our parents would read to us have conditioned us to believe that characters such as the princess in distress or the prince in shining armour were nothing but friendly and good, while the troll guarding his own bridge or the fire-breathing dragon were the most frighteningly evil creatures of all. However, as we grew up, we learned that these distinctions are never so easily black and white, but more-so different shades of grey. We learned that the characters that we initially deemed evil had reasons for acting that way, and most of them out of their control. Such is the case with the main character in John Gardner’s Grendel. The character Grendel
Evil is defined as being profoundly immoral of malevolent. Being faced with evil is can be challenging especially when the person is unaware that it is present. In the Play Othello by William Shakespeare and the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Othello and Ralph are faced with the challenge of evil. Othello is an outsider of Venice coming from South Africa that is sometimes ridiculed based on the color of his skin; yet earned the title of respect with his intelligence, courage, and skills. Othello’s insecurities and him not knowing when evil is looking him straight in the eye, leads him to his down falling. Ralph... Both characters in the beginning act in a moral manner, until the end of the stories when both characters have been
There are two kinds of evil, moral and natural. Moral evil is things like murder, rape, stealing, terrorism, etc. Natural evil is things like suffering and unpleasantness typically as a result of moral evil. Evil is that which has no power of its own. Evil is darkness, a negation of light. Its power is in us, in our fear of it, in that we consider it a "something" worth responding to.
Has evil always been around, or did man create it? One could trace evil all the way back to Adam and Eve; however, evil came to them, but it was not in them. When did evil become part of a person? No one knows, but evil has been around for a long time and unfortunately is discovered by everyone. In many great classics in literature evil is at the heart or the theme of the novel, including Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. This classic book demonstrates the growing up of two children in the South and illustrates the theme of evil by showing how they discover, how they deal, and how they reconcile themselves to the evils they experience.
Despite being from in two different time periods, Lord of the Flies by Golding and Othello by Shakespeare , Shakespeare and Golding both share a common theme of good versus evil; the characters Simon and Desdemona share the interest of purity and represent a God/Goddess while being challenged by the unholy or the evil. Jack, dark and evil character and Iago, dark and masterminded character share the characteristic of being evil or unholy. Unfortunately in both instances, evil takes over and cannot be a pure individual. The evil inside them takes over their heart but does not really control them, even in their most brutal murders, they still maintain to be themselves and not get absorbed by evil and turn insane.
Evil is to be morally wrong, bad, wicked, and a whole bunch of other synonyms that all boil into one pot. There is so much to this word that it’s almost impossible to pinpoint someone as truly evil. To be evil for no other reason than to be evil would be the worst possible evil. Adolf Hitler and Osoma bin Laden believe the evil they committed was justified by God, or some higher power. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, from the play by Shakespeare, were not evil because they wanted to be, they did it for a greater good.
In Tolkien world, evil is the antithesis of creativity, and is dependent on destruction and ruin for its basis. Conversely, goodness is associated with the beauty of creation as well as the preservation of anything that is created. The symbolic nature of these two ideologies is represented in the Elven Rings, which symbolize goodness, and the One Ring, which is wholly evil. A main theme of "The Hobbit", then, is the struggle within our own free will between good will and evil. "Early in the (Lord of the Rings) narrative, Frodo recalls that his uncle Bilbo, especially during his later years, was fond of declaring that… there was only one Road; that it was lik...
Lord of the Flies provides one with a clear understanding of Golding's view of human nature. Whether this view is right or wrong is a point to be debated. This image Golding paints for the reader, that of humans being inherently bad, is a perspective not all people share. Lord of the Flies is but an abstract tool of Golding's to construct the idea of the inherent evil of human nature in the minds of his readers. To construct this idea of the inherent evil, Golding employs the symbolism of Simon, Ralph, the hunt and the island.
One of the most distinct and obvious forms of evil in literature is physical evil and this takes the forms of many things from the Grim Reaper to monsters. The latter of the two is what we see in the Anglo-Saxon heroic story, Beowulf. In this story we see not just one physical evil, but three: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. All of these creatures were described in their own terms, yet all of their nicknames show that they are pure evil. First we have Grendel who was named the “fiend out of hell” (Heaney 9) and also the “corpse maker” (Heaney 21). While Grendel’s mother was called the “monstrous hell-bride” (Heaney 89) and the dragon was called the “nightmarish destroyer” (Heaney 191). These few nicknames barely scratch the surface of describing how truly evil each of these creatures was, yet even though they were pure evil they were still important to the story. Without these evil creatures Beowulf would not be the hero that we know him to be because he would not have anyone to defeat in battle. It is also because of these different physical evils that we get to the end goal of all evil: death. In this case of Beowulf it comes with the death of all the monsters at the hands of Beowulf in various ways, including ripping off Grendel’s arm...
In the film “Avatar” directed by James Cameron, wide shot, close up shots, gesture, lighting, sound, facial expression and dialogue are used to help the audience better understand the themes, good vs evil and respecting the environment which is expressed in the film.
Good and evil in Tolkien's work are, to put it simply, that which is natural and that which is unnatural, respectively. That is, what is left alone to follow the cycles of nature is good. Any time that the cycles of nature are disrupted (such as the felling of a forest or the enslavement of a free people), there is evil. There are constant references to this in Tolkien's stories, as when Bilbo Baggins' neighbors remark on his mysterious vigor and extreme old age, "It isn't natural, and trouble will come of it" (21). Or when Sam Gamgee says of the Gandalf the wizard, "Don't let him turn me into anything unnat...