Lord of the Rings Trilogy: A Review

By Arrow Pabiona

December 19, 2001 was the day the first film installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, “Fellowship of the Ring” was released. For most of today’s generation, that had been their very first brush with the mystifying world of Middle-Earth. Not a lot of people remember when the 3-volume novel first came out in the mid-1950’s and gained appreciation from literary bigwigs such as Iris Murdoch and C.S. Lewis. Today, it is credited by most as the prime mover of the fantasy fiction genre. Peter Jackson realized sometime in the mid-90’s that no one had yet made a serious attempt to translate the magic of the novel into the silver screen. And so the LOTR trilogy was green-lighted by New Line Cinema and the rest they say, is history. To cap off the trilogy’s success, the last installment, “The Return of the King”, actually went on to become the 2nd highest grossing movie of all time world-wide (without inflation), plus it shares the same honor with Titanic and Ben-hur for the most Academy Awards won (11 in all).

The success of the movie trilogy not only sparked a renewed interest for the novel, but it also gave the movie viewers the curiosity over the symbolisms, allegories etc. present in the story. A lot were surprised to find out that the most of the symbolisms actually point towards a central theme: Christianity. Now how does one verify this fact? J.R.R. Tolkien himself gave his insights about the novel, he wrote saying: "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work," he wrote,

Unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like ’religion’, to cults or practices, in the Imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism" (Letter 142).

Unlike his fellow literary Christian peers such as C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams, he had chosen to present Christianity in an indirect matter most consistently. The question now is what are the central symbolisms present in the novel?

The “Lord of the Rings” storyline revolves around the One Ring which is known for the immeasurable power it grants to the one who holds it. Sauron, the main antagonist, created it to gain power over the free people of Middle Earth. Frodo the Hobbit, the main protagonist, had the burden to destroy the one thing that can give him “power.” Tempted as he may have been, he refused to give in to the lure of power to fulfill his duty and do the right thing. The One Ring is a representation of the different evil things in this earthly world that can entice and enslave us. However, God’s word tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that when we are tempted, God will show us a way out so we can endure.

A lot are familiar and fond of the hobbits Frodo and Samwise. They both played a vital role in the process of bearing the One Ring to it’s destruction. They were simple hobbits but as odd as it may seem, they were chosen to fulfill this task which seemed beyond what they were capable of for the benefit of Middle Earth; they were to overcome war, evil creatures and the great forces of the turncoat wizard, Saruman.. This is reminiscent of the dozens of Bible characters such as Moses and Gideon who saw themselves as weak but were able to lead God's people into victory.

Mind that these representations are just a few among many. One must take note that the story of Middle Earth is a long and winding one, and it would be helpful for an LOTR reader to expand his or her horizons for the other allusions & references to Christianity present to be discovered.

The 2,730 effects shots, well-coordinated production designs and the current trend of fantasy have somehow drawn the people into the movie. It is interesting to see how the message of J.R.R. Tolkien persisted on even in the translation of the novel into the cinema. J.R.R. Tolkien was just one of the men that served as God’s mouthpiece in the world of the media and his world of Middle-Earth and all it’s characters was the great army that brought forth His message.

Despite all the creative inputs and possible alterations inserted, the central elements of Christianity had managed to affect not only the Christians in the viewing population but also the media in general. This can be greatly attributed to the fact that the novel never intended to directly preach the Message. Somehow, the movie can make a pedestrian realize that the moral decisions the characters are making do make sense, without directly flaunting the Christian context. This is the main strength of the franchise. In a world like Hollywood, where ethics seems to be fuzzed and undefined, here is at least one franchise that stimulates not only the faculty of wonder, but also the faculty of morality.

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