Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ASTRI ARINI WALUYO
Student Number: 024214029
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ASTRI ARINI WALUYO
Student Number: 024214029
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii By
ASTRI ARINI WALUYO
Student Number: 024214029
Approved by
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. July 29, 2009 Advisor
iii By
ASTRI ARINI WALUYO
Student Number: 024214029 Student Registration Number:
Defended before the Board of Examiners On
and Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name Signature
Chairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M. Pd., M.A. __ Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. __
Member : Maria Ananta, S.S., M. Ed. __
Member : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. __
Member : Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M.A. __
Yogyakarta, August 31, 2009 Faculty of Letters Sanata Dharma University Dean
Nama : Astri Arini Waluyo
Nomor Mahasiswa : 024214029
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ARCHETYPAL PATTERN WITHIN
FRODO’S JOURNEY IN J.R.R. TOLKIEN’S
THE LORD OF
THE RINGS
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me-ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 22 Agustus 2009
Yang menyatakan
vi
I went through and finally get me into writing this page.
Thank you so much for all my best friends – Eling, Vera, Wanti, Maria. Thank you very much for the laugh and the shoulder to cry on. I will never get here and be the person I am right now without you. You girls are the best friend in the world, God bless you for that. For Angga and Nando, thank you so much for the valuable lesson learns, I will never ever forget all that through the rest of my life.
Thank you so much Paulo for being a great father for me. I could never thank you enough for every single great lesson about life. I know that God is giving much blessing for me through you. God bless you and your family.
I would also like to thank to all my students in Indonesian Air force Academy (AAU) and Taruna Nusantara High School. Thank you for so much encouragement and I think I learn more from you guys. Thank you also for teachers, lecturers and staffs from AAU and TN, Ibu Naning and Mayor Abi. Thank you for your kindliness, friendship and encouragement.
Thanks for the members of English Debating Community Sanata Dharma – Karlina, Ambar and the newbies, also other EDS all across Jogja and Indonesia. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement through jokes and mockeries. Well, somehow they do work! I will never find a community where I can learn a lot about everything as much as I learned from members of EDS.
Thanks for all my colleges my dear friends from Sanata Dharma University – English Letters Department. I would like to thank you all for each of your unique contribution for this thesis. I would also like to thank to my colleagues at work in NGOs, who each also provides unique encouraging motivation.
vii
you so much for being patient as well as giving me guidance and valuable knowledge to get me through the long way. I would also like to thank and apologize for the previous advisors Paulus Sarwoto, S.S, M.A and Dra. A. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A. Thank you for providing guidance and valuable knowledge and I apologize for not getting this thesis done earlier.
ix
c. Woman as the Temptress...76
d. Atonement with the Father...77
e. Apotheosis...79
f. The Ultimate Boon...79
3. Return...80
a. The Refusal of the Return...81
b. The Magic Flight...82
c. Rescue from Without...83
d. Crossing of the Return Threshold...83
e. Master of the Two Worlds...84
f. Freedom to Live...86
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION...87
x
Archetypal study is a branch of structuralism. Thus, its application on literary study involves analyzing the structure of a novel. One of structuralism principals in analyzing literature is to see literature as part of wider structure. Moreover, archetypal study analyzes recurrent patterns or symbols presented within myth and literature.
Based on the chosen topic, the writer formulates two problem formulation: First, how is the plot described in J. R. R. Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Rings? Second, based on the plot analysis, how is archetypal pattern being reflected within the adventure of Frodo Baggins?
Since this research is a library research, then the first source used is the novel itself, J. R. R. Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Rings. The secondary sources include several theories and criticisms taken from books and internet. This research use structuralism approach, in which the writer analyze the plot structure within the novel and compare it with narrative pattern exists in many stories and myths illustrated in archetypal theory. Thus, the main theory used in this thesis is archetypal theory, which is important to analyze Frodo’s journey in order to conclude its significance. Other theory used in this thesis is theory of plot, which is used as a tool to analyze the whole plot of the story to help the writer of this thesis find Frodo’s journey within the plot.
xi Sanata Dharma.
Studi tentang arketipe merupakan salah satu cabang strukturalisme. Karenanya, penerapannya pada studi karya sastra termasuk menganalisa struktur pada suatu novel. Salah satu prinsip strukturalisme dalam menganalisa karya sastra adalah memandang bahwa karya sastra merupakan bagian dari struktur yang lebih luas. Selain itu, studi arketipe menganalisa pola dan simbol yang muncul secara berulang-ulang dalam mitos dan karya sastra.
Berdasarkan topik yang telah dipilih, penulis menciptakan dua perumusan masalah: Pertama, bagaimana plot dijabarkan dalam novel The Lord of the Rings karya J. R. R. Tolkien? Kedua, berdasarkan analisa plot, bagaimana pola arketipe tercermin dalam petualangan Frodo Baggins?
Karena penelitian ini merupakan penelitian perpustakaan, maka sumber utama yang digunakan adalah novel itu sendiri, The Lord of the Rings karya J. R. R. Tolkien. Sumber-sumber sekunder meliputi beberapa teori dan kritik yang diambil dari buku dan internet. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan strukturalisme, dimana penulis menganalisa struktur plot cerita dan membandingkannya dengan pola naratif yang ada di banyak cerita dan mitos seperti yang diilustrasikan dalam teori arketipe. Karenanya, teori utama yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah teori arketipe, yang merupakan teori penting untuk menganalisa perjalanan Frodo agar dapat mencapai kesimpulan mengenai signifikansinya. Teori lain yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah teori plot, yang digunakan sebagai alat untuk menganalisa keseluruhan plot cerita untuk membantu penulis dalam menemukan perjalanan Frodo yang merupakan bagian dari plot itu sendiri.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Theory of archetype, describing about collective unconscious pattern within human mind, is such a fascinating theory. The study came up from the combination between anthropology and psychology. While theory of anthropology points their evidence from the same structure that exists within cultural artefacts created by different culture during different periods, theory of psychology believes that the archetypal symbols in the cultural artefact are the reflection of collective unconscious mind that is genetically inherited. The most notable students of Freud, C. G. Jung, stated that the mind is not tabula rasa (a clean state), in which archetype to mind is like organ to the body. Both psychology and anthropology believe in the existence of archetypal pattern, which are reflected through various cultural artefacts all across the world such as myth, cultural practice, traditional ceremony, etc, while literature is also one form of cultural product.
In 1928, a Russian formalist critic, Vladimir Propp, published The
Morphology of the Folktale, after studying the structure of the plot of Russian folktales. He explained in the book, 32 points on plot structures and 3 characters generalized from the folktales. Two decades later, an anthropologist, Claude Lévi-Strauss believed that there is a similar pattern, which exists within various myths from different cultures although geographically separated very far away. This
research opened a new passage to develop research on mythology through structuralism in 1950s. Structuralism believes that there is an underlying pattern within all myths existed all across the world although they came from very different cultures, are separated in different places, and existed in different periods. Being a structuralist, by researching similar pattern among hundreds of myth, Joseph Campbell managed to come up with study about a universal pattern of mythology within the plot of stories, published in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949). Nowadays, the pattern being applied as a reference for some famous authors such as J. K. Rowling’sHarry Potterseries and George Lucas’Star Warsseries.
archetypal as one of the factors behind the survival of myth, applies within Tolkien’s most successful work,The Lord of the Rings.
As for the second reason, the writer of this thesis is excited to conduct a research using archetypal approach. Despite of the fact that archetypal is such an important finding within study of culture and psychology, Indonesian undergraduate researcher rarely use this approach to study literary text. In the other hand, in western world, theory of archetype has been playing a very significant role in producing many literature works including Star Wars and Harry Potter series, since many fantasy literatures are built based on theory archetypal pattern as the backbone of the plot. The writer of this thesis would like to present an attempt to maintain knowledge on archetypal theory by applying it within research on literature text. The writer hopes that the thesis can somehow provide contribution as a source for future attempts to study archetypal theory or to use archetypal theory as an approach of research.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How is the plot described in J. R. R. Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Rings? 2. How is the archetypal pattern reflected within Frodo’s journey?
C. Objectives of the Study
The finding of the archetypal pattern within the plot, will be used as the basis to see the significance of the archetypal pattern reflected within the plot of Tolkien’s The
Lord of the Rings. D. Definition of Terms
The key words that needs to be clarified is archetypal. According toA Handbook
of Critical Approaches to Literature(Guerin et al, 1999:160), archetypes are similar motifs, themes, or certain images that recur in many different mythologies. Although the archetype might take form in specific shapes and wrapped in different culture, similar sense and pattern can be found.
From the same source as mentioned above, archetype can be found in form of image and pattern or motif (Guerin et al, 1999:160-166). Archetypal image is image recur in many different mythology such as the trickster image or joker in Monkey King (Chinese legend) and Kancil, and mother-earth figure that can be found within many goddess in many cultures such as Kwan-In in Chinese mythology, Dewi Sri in Indonesian mythology and Gaia in western mythology. In the other hand, archetypal pattern or motif is the pattern recurs in many different mythologies such as in
Oedipus Rex and Sangkuriang, which both tells a story about a son, who killed his father and married his mother, or a story about nasty stepmother that can be found in
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
In order to analyze the problem that has been formulated by the writer, it is also important to include some other review of previous studies on the work by other researchers or writers. This could be used to help the writer to develop the thesis and to show that the thesis is different from other previous studies done to Tolkien’sThe
Lord of the Ringstrilogy.
The related study being reviewed to help the writer develop the thesis and clarify the position of the study is written by Patrick Grant, a specialist in Renaissance literature, who teaches English at the University of Victoria, British
Columbia. The essay is published in
http://www.cgjungpage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Ite mid=40, (accessed on February 28, 2009) and the title of the essay is Tolkien: Archetype and word. Patrick Grant believes that “the group of friends to whom Tolkien first read The Lord of the Rings, the so-called Inklings, found Jung temperamentally attractive”. Therefore, the essay that written by Patrick Grant “has been centrally concerned with the analogy between Tolkien and Jung, but it is not simply an "archetypal" assessment ofThe Lord of the Rings” since the essay is also discussed about the language and the individuation process reflected in the novel.
In the website mentioned above, Patrick Grant mentions that “The Lord of the
Rings can be read, with surprising consistency, as an interior journey through the psyche as Jung describes it”. Thus, the first section of the essay describes the characters in The Lord of the Rings that correspond to Jungian archetypal symbol such as Tom Bombadil as “king of the forest, who is associated with wood and water in a manner”.
During the next few paragraphs, Grant describes several theories by Jung. He said that The Lord of the Rings corresponds to a psychic process called “individuation”, which basically means the "realization of a whole man achieved in a balanced and fulfilled life when consciousness and the unconscious, are linked together in a living relation." Furthermore, Grant describes other archetypal images that are often revealed through dream or literature works such as shadow (“the elements which a person represses as incompatible with his chosen ideal”), anima or animus (the feminine side of a man's unconscious, and the masculine side of a woman's”), hero (someone who went through an adventure or a quest), and wise old man archetype (a figure who helps the hero during difficult situation).
power of the Ring. Moreover,” the negative counterparts of the heroes, are the Black Riders” and the loss of self of the Black Riders “is indicated by the fact that the black riders have no faces”.
Galadriel is the major anima in the novel, who had positive and negative side within herself that she managed to repress when Frodo showed her the Ring. “Shelob the spider-woman is the destructive anima who often poisons to kill” as the opposite site of Galadriel. Other anima figure is Arwen, and the marriage between Arwen and Aragorn represent “a divine pair” or “the ideal union of anima and animus”. In the other hand, Éowyn is the victim of her own negative animus, which then healed by Faramir
Gandalf is the wise old man, especially appears when the hero is in trouble. As the white old man, Gandalf provided the hero with magical talisman, which is the One Ring itself. Just like other archetype, the wise old man also had a wicked aspect too, in this case is represented by Saruman, the wicked magician. According to Grant, “Sarumans multi-colors, like the facelessness of the riders, indicates a dissolution of identity” or the self.
believes that “the trilogy seems to fully correspond to the Jungian classification”, in which the character of Sam Gamgee is employed to reflect the reader in the novel.
In relation with myth, according to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_lord_of_the_rings, it is a common knowledge that Tolkien’s work represents his attempt to write myth for England. Along with C. S. Lewis, Tolkien believed that England does not have any myth of its own, thus they had to create it themselves. This effort turned out to be a great success, since the masterpiece still being people’s favourite even half century after its first publication proven by its achievement as "Nation's Best-loved Book" in BBC polling that conducted via the Web, SMS and telephone in 2003. The same website also suggest that in its early publication, Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Ringsreceived positive reviews from several mass media such asSunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, New York Herald
Tribune.Moreover, in 1957, the book achieved “International Fantasy Award” as the best fantasy literature ever published.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Plot
According to Robert Stanton in his book, An Introduction to Fiction, plot of a story is the entire sequence of events in the story. It is a chain of action formed by cause or result of the previous event. “These events may include not only physical occurrences, like a speech or action, but also a character’s change of attitude, a flash of insight, a decision – anything that alters the course of affairs.” In other words, plot is an important element, because it gives many information that are having a close relationship to one another about the novel itself and it cannot be omitted.
Furthermore, according to Stanton, the plot is the backbone of a story and has its own laws: “It must have a true beginning, middle, and end; it must be plausible and logical, and yet it should occasionally surprise us; it must arouse and satisfy suspense.” Means that plot is a self-evident element and to understand the story further, we should have all the information about the events, the links of cause and effects about the story itself (1965:14-15).
In terms of dividing the plot of a story into five elements representing five stages of the plot, the writer of this thesis used a theory from Pickering and Hoeper as illustrated below,
a. Exposition
the time when the action takes place. It may also introduce the characters and the conflict or the potential conflict.
b. Complication
It is the rising action, breaks the existing equilibrium and introduces the characters and the underlying or inciting conflict. It is place for conflict to be developed gradually and intensified.
c. Crisis
It is the climax. It is a moment at which the plot reaches its point of greatest emotional intensity; it is the turning point of the plot that may lead to its resolution. d. Falling action
It is reflected as the tension subsides once the crisis has been reached and the plot moves toward its appointed conclusion.
e. Resolution
It is the final stage of the plot. It records the outcome of the conflict and establishes some new equilibrium or stability. The resolution is also referred to as the conclusion or denouement (1986: 21-22).
The entire plot elements mentioned above are revolve around the conflict of the story as mentioned by Hogins that conflict is “the element of the plot around which all other elements revolve” (Hogins, 1975: 941). Moreover, Betty in her book, The
in the universe, even a struggle for meaning on the part of the reader” (Betty, 1973: 604).
2. Theory of Archetypal Pattern
Based on a research on hundreds of tales and myths from all across the world, Campbell found an underlying pattern for all the hero’s journeys within the myths and tales. He described his founding within a theory, which he named Monomyth as illustrated briefly in the following quotation,
The standard path of the mythological adventure of the hero is a magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage:separation-initiation-return: which might be named the nuclear unit of the Monomyth.
A hero ventures forth from the world of the common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
(Campbell, 1948: 30)
Theory of archetypal pattern applied as a tool in this research isMonomyththeory from a well-known American mythology professor Joseph Campbell in his bookThe
Hero with a Thousand Faces. This theory is regarded as one of the best because it is based on a very comprehensive research over hundreds of myth that spread all across the world. In his bookThe Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell compiled his findings within 3 main chapters, which are Prologue, Part One: The Adventure of the Hero, and Part Two: The Cosmogonic Cycle. The theory that is relevant to support this research is on the second chapters of the book, which is about the journey of the hero as described within the next paragraphs.
chapters from Part One describes the three stages of the hero’s journey, which consists of departure, initiation, and return as illustrated below.
a. Departure
This stage represent the phase of myth when the hero was about to depart to journey to achieve his quest. The phase begun as the hero receives or hears the call to adventure until the hero completely leaves the place where he originally came from. i. The call to adventure
The call to adventure represents a situation in myth that encourages the hero to start his adventure. The call could be in form of threat towards his society, so that the hero should do his quest to the land unknown to him (Campbell, 1949: 58).
ii. Refusal of the call
Somehow the adventure can happen because the hero’s refusal to obey someone’s suggestion or he has the manner against the trait in his society. One of the examples given by Campbell is in the tale of Sidharta, in which he wanted to retire from life and become Buddha against his father, who provided him with many concubines (Campbell, 1949: 68).
iii. Supernatural aid
iv. The Crossing of the First Threshold
The first threshold means the border between the land familiar and the land unknown to the hero. He must cross this border and continue exploring the land unknown to him. Usually the border is guard by the threshold guardian that should not be challenged by anyone (Campbell, 1949: 82).
v. The Belly of the Whale
In this stage, the hero appeared death to his society. Campbell took examples from the tale of Joseph in the well or Jonah in the belly of the whale (Campbell, 1949: 92). Thus based on the example, later the hero would be back to his society bringing victory from the adventure he already accomplished.
b. Initiation
The second or the core stage is initiation, which often regarded as the whole point of the myth because this part illustrate the adventure of the hero in order to achieve his quest whether it is winning a war or accomplishing certain task to bring goodness to his community. In this stage, the hero undergoes a series of adventure with various challenges until he accomplished his quest or the task given to him. This stage is consisted of six sub-stages as illustrated in the following paragraphs.
i. The Road of Trials
ii. The Meeting with the Goddess
In this stage, the hero met a mother-like figure or a universal mother or a Goddess and a unity happen between them. A mother represent provider of the knowledge, while the hero represent the one who will get the knowledge. In this phase, a mother or goddess figure is united with the hero that lead to development and enrichment of each soul (Campbell, 1949: 113-116).
iii. Woman as the Temptress
An irresistible woman figure is presented as a temptress for the hero. This sometimes seemed as if it was one of the trials. The hero’s success can be noticed from his rejection towards this woman figure (Campbell, 1949: 123-126).
iv. Atonement with the Father
The hero achieved understanding with a father-like or authority figure, in order to understand himself as well as this figure the hero develop and enrich his soul (Campbell, 1949: 133-136).
v. Apotheosis
The hero’s perception upon reality changed. In this stage, he usually attained new power, or can see things in larger point of view. The hero accept his destiny and usually started by a willingness to sacrifice himself (Campbell, 1949: 149-151). vi. The Ultimate Boon
c. Return
Return is the hero’s journey to come back to his home after he accomplished the quest throughout the long journey described in the initiation phase. This is the part where the end of the myth is concluded. This stage is consisted of six sub-stages as illustrated in the following paragraphs.
i. Refusal of the Return
The hero might enjoy the life in other world and refused to go home. Usually, the world the hero desires is the world of eternal life like the Atlantis or something like paradise. InThe Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell said “Numerous indeed are the heroes fabled to have taken up residence forever in the blessed isle of the unaging Goddess of Immortal Being” (Campbell, 1949: 193).
ii. The Magic Flight
As the hero journeyed home, a chase or pursuit from opposition might happen as written by Campbell “This flight may be complicated by marvels of magical obstruction and evasion” (Campbell, 1949: 197).
iii. Rescue from Without
The hero is attacked or successfully blocked, and he needs support from ordinary world. One of the most famous examples is “in the tale ofRed Ridinghood, who was eaten by the wolf but rescued from its belly by the hunter” (Campbell, 1949: 211). iv. The Crossing of the Return Threshold
family and friends, and attending normal daily activities as he had before left for the adventure (Campbell, 1949: 217-224).
v. Master of the Two Worlds
The hero was not the same person anymore since he had new understanding or skill both from divine and human worlds from his experience accomplishing his quest. The hero attained knowledge or skill beyond nature of mankind. To illustrate the form of hero as the master of the two worlds, Campbell provided the example of Khrisna and Jesus, in which both figures were master of human and divine universe since they were human as well as God (Campbell, 1949: 229-237).
vi. Freedom to Live
This is the moment when the kingdom is restored and the world where the hero lives is set back into balance. In this phase, the hero often passed his experience and properties he gained during his adventure to his friend or as a contribution to his kingdom. The famous example of this phase was in the prince and princess story, when the prince brought back the princess to the castle in her kingdom (Campbell, 1949: 243).
C. Theoretical Framework
Since the topic of this study is about the plot of the story, the writer of the thesis should analyze the plot of the story based on theory of plot. Moreover, the theory of plot is used to answer the problem formulation number one about the plot of the story. The outcome from studying the story based on theory of plot is the analysis of plot of the story from the beginning until the end. The analysis of the plot is important in this thesis to provide the basis before finding the archetypal pattern within the plot.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The novel was usually published in three parts, yet it consists of six books, prologue, and appendices. George Allen and Unwin is the first publishing company, which published the first and the second series,The Fellowship of the Ring(prologue, book I and book II) andThe Two Towers (book III and book IV) in London, in 1954. The same publisher published the third book, The Return of the King (book V, book VI, and appendices) in 1955.
The edition used in this study is the film tie–in edition 2001, which was published by Harper Collin Publisher in London. The book, which covered all the story, consist of 1160 pages; 1137 pages contain the story from the whole six books ofThe Lord of
the Rings, prologue, appendices, and indexes; while the remaining pages contain the map and the editor’s and author’s personal comment. Each book consists of some chapters ranging from nine to twelve, and each chapter consists of around 20 pages. The prologue, which gives some background of the story, consists of 15 pages. The appendices consist of 98 pages divided into six parts, which tells about annals of the kings and rulers, chronology of the lands, family trees, calendars, writing and spelling, and languages spoken by different races.
In 2003, Big Read survey which conducted by the BBC awarded The Lord of the
Rings the Nation’s Best-loved Book (taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/, accessed June 2009). In 1999 poll ofwww.amazon.comcustomers judgedthe Lord of
the Rings to be their favourite book of the millennium (based on
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/802-The_Lord_Of_The_Rings_best_foreign_book.php, accessed June 2009). In 1998, New Line Cinema accept Peter Jackson’s proposal to make an adaptation ofThe Lord
of the Rings, and this time it was not an animated or cartoon version. The most sophisticated technology and the best actress and actors were brought into play. The movie was made in three series; The Fellowship of the Ring was released on December 19, 2001; The Two Towers was released on December 18, 2002; and The
Return of the King was released on December 17, 2003. Based on http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_Oscars_did_the_Lord_of_the_Rings_trilogy_ win (accessed June 2009), the movies were a huge success as they won 17 Oscars, four forThe Fellowship of the Ring, two forThe Two Towers, and 11 forThe Return
of the King.
Frodo Baggins. Through various happening and fantastic adventure during the journey from Hobbiton to Mount Doom, the One Ring was destroyed and the kingdom and goodness was restored.
B. Approach of the Study
Structuralism first emerged in French on 1950s pioneered by Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roland Barthes. It emerged from “the belief that things cannot be understood in isolation - they have to be seen in the context of larger structures they are part of” (Barry, 1995:39). In its development, structuralism applied to study many fields including anthropology, linguistic, and literature.
In terms of study of mythology, the writer of this thesis sees that the position of study of mythology is between anthropology, psychology and literature study. It is part of the study of anthropology because mythology is artefact that is part of culture. It is part of the study of psychology because the cultural artefact itself is product of mind. Moreover, it is part of literature study because the culture is expressed through literature or narration (especially after the written form exists).
pattern especially on its characterization and plot (Ahimsa-Putra, 2006:83). From this basis assumption, structuralism on mythology developed into many branches including archetypal and narratology. In archetypal study, researchers, like psychologist C. G. Jung and anthropologist James G. Frazer, try to reveal the universal symbol presented in many mythologies. The archetypal study also divided into two branch, some researcher especially psychologist like C. G. Jung are interested in revealing and explaining why and how the universal pattern existed, while anthropologist like Frazer are more interested in revealing and mapping the archetypal images.
The archetypal image exists within myth or story can be in form of pattern or symbol. Symbol usually can be found within the character, setting or object within the story. In the other hand, archetypal pattern usually found within the narrative or the plot. The study of the archetypal pattern can be related to narratology, which in fact, is an attempt to find universal narration applied in literary works. A narratologist would “look at individual narratives seeking out the recurrent structures which they are found within all narratives” (Barry, 1995:241). In this light, theory of archetypal pattern becomes a tool to study the individual narrative.
this thesis also believes that in order to understand the significance of the plot, the writer must analyze the structure inside the story (the plot) using theory of archetypal, which produced from analyzing the corpus between hundreds of myths and tales all across the world.
Moreover, Peter Barry also described in the book that a structuralist would try to find “a network of intertextual connections”, “a projected model of an underlying universal narrative structure”, and “the convention of a particular literary genre” (Barry, 2002:49). In analyzing J.R. R. Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Rings, the writer of this thesis applied structuralism approach to analyze the plot and the archetypal pattern within the plot. In analyzing the plot, the writer of this thesis tried to analyze the plot by comparing with a universal narrative model by using Monomyth theory from Joseph Campbell.
C. Method of the Study
A library research was applied in conducting this study. The sources used are primary and secondary sources. The primary source was J. R. R. Tolkien’sThe Lord
of the Rings. The secondary sources was several theories and criticisms taken from books and internet.
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter describes about the analysis and the explanation to answer the problem formulation. It is divided into three sections. At the first section, the writer of this thesis will illustrate the plot analysis of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Meanwhile, at the second section, the writer will illustrate the archetypal pattern within the plot that is explained within the first section. At the third section, the writer of this thesis would like to describe the significance of the archetypal pattern within the plot of the story.
A. The Plot of the Story
In this section, the theory of plot discussed in Chapter 2 will be used as the tool to analyze the plot in Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Rings. According to the theory, a plot in a story consists of five elements; those are exposition, complication, climax, failing action and resolution. Therefore, this section is divided into five sub-sections accordingly. The five elements would revolve around the conflict, which in this case the One Ring.
1. Exposition
Exposition is the introductory part of the plot to lay out the background of the story. As previously mentioned in chapter 2, it is the part of the story where the author introduces the character, setting and the potential conflict. In J. R. R. Tolkien’s
The Lord of the Rings, the author introduce the story in a fictional village namely Hobbiton of The Shire. This village was a peaceful village, where fictional creature namely hobbit lived mostly by farming and gardening. The Shire was also part of a fictional area namely Middle Earth. The very first hint that particular conflict would rise was the finding of the long lost magic ring, One Ring, in the possession of a hobbit namely Bilbo Baggins. Along with it the main characters, Frodo Baggins, and other major characters such as Gandalf the wizard and other hobbit characters such as Sam Gamgee, Perregrin Took (Pippin) and Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) were introduced. They are the most influential characters throughout the story because those characters play significant role to develop the story that will be explained more while the explanation on plot developed.
The One Ring came up publicly when Bilbo decided to display the power of the magic Ring during his speech in his 111th birthday. He suddenly put on the ring on his finger making him disappeared. Described in the novel that Bilbo gave speech during which he said goodbye, and suddenly “He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked. When they opened their eyes Bilbo was nowhere to be seen. One hundred and forty-four flabbergasted hobbits sat back speechless.” (The Lord of the Rings: 30).
make sure that Bilbo would hand down the ring to his nephew, whom he adopted as son, Frodo Baggins, before he left.
The One Ring can be recognized by the Elvish letter encrypted upon the Ring, which said
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. (The Lord of the Rings: 49)
One Ring was said to have the power to make people disappear as soon as he or she wore that just like what it did to Bilbo when he wore the Ring. Other than that, the ring also had the power to manipulate people to do evil things and obeyed only to the ring maker, Sauron. This power started to work on Bilbo and Frodo, who were both reluctant to surrender the Ring to other. While Frodo gave a loud cry when Gandalf threw the Ring into the fire, Bilbo responded to Gandalf’s suggestion to leave the Ring for Frodo by saying “It is mine, I tell you. My own. My precious. Yes, my precious. … I won’t give my precious away, I tell you.” (The Lord of the Rings: 33).
Frodo came home to find out that Bilbo had left and he inherited the ring. After Gandalf explained about the power of the ring and that the ring bearer might carry a huge burden, Frodo refused to accept the Ring and offered it to Gandalf, who refused it at once because Gandalf knew that the ring might manipulate Gandalf and use his wizard power to accomplish evil thing. The quotation below illustrates the debate between Frodo and Gandalf over who should be the Ring bearer,
‘No!’ cried Gandalf, springing to his feet. ‘With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.’ His eyes flashed and his face was lit as by a fire within. ‘Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused. The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength. I shall have such need of it. Great perils lie before me.’
(The Lord of the Rings: 60)
Gandalf suggested that Frodo should leave the Shire secretly to Rivendell, the closest Elven kingdom. He said to Frodo,
...you are leaving the Shire – and that should not be known, until you are far away. And you must go, or at least set out ... the direction should certainly not be known.
If you want my advice, make for Rivendell. That journey should not prove too perilous, though the Road is less easy than it was, and it will grow worse as the year fails.
(The Lord of the Rings: 64-65).
Following Gandalf’s suggestion, Frodo sold Bag End, the house that he used to inherit from Bilbo. He moved to Crickhollow in Buckland the neighbouring village. His best-friends helped him to move out. While Merry and Fatty Bolger carried his luggage and furniture to the new house by cart, Pippin and Sam departed the next day along with Frodo on foot. The plot developed to the next stage as Frodo left the Shire.
2. Complication
presented throughout the journey. This part of the plot is called complication. This is the longest part of the plot since it describes the long and adventurous journey to destroy the One Ring, which in the book it was stretched throughout not less than 52 chapters. Moreover, since the novel is about adventure, the complication stage of the story mostly illustrated in form of the various obstacles in form of monster attack, difficult journey, duel or war, etc.
The first obstacle came to Gandalf as he left Frodo in Hobbiton and went to his superior, Saruman, to find more information about One Ring. Turns out, Saruman had been manipulated by the dark power that he got from watching dark object named Palantìr, a kind of crystal ball. Saruman opposed Gandalf’s idea to destroy One Ring, and instead he persuaded Gandalf to join him to rule Middle Earth with the power of the One Ring. As Gandalf declined, Saruman said “I did not expect you to show wisdom, even in your own behalf; but I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, and so saving yourself much trouble and pain. The third choice is to stay here, until the end” (The Lord of the Rings: 253). Then Saruman kept him hostage at the top of his tower, Orthanc.
Sackville-Bagginses! These tree-roots would do them good.” (The Lord of the Rings: 71).
The journey was getting more difficult for the hobbits as a company of Ringwraiths, who deceit themselves as Black Riders, pursued them all the way from home to the border of the Shire. The Nine Ringwraiths were the nine Servants of the Lord of the Rings (Sauron). They were the possessor of the Nine Rings that Sauron had given to Men. Presented as Black Riders, they all wore black outfit and their horses were also black. The Black Riders were pursuing Frodo because they wanted to take the One Ring that Frodo carried. Once when one of the Black Rider was very closed to Frodo, who were hiding with Sam and Pippin, a weird feeling of sudden desire to put on the Ring came into Frodo as illustrated by the following quotation,
A sudden unreasoning fear of discovery laid hold of Frodo, and he thought of his Ring. He hardly dared to breathe, and yet the desire to get it out of his pocket became so strong that he began slowly to move his hand. He felt that he had only to slip it on, and then he would safe. The advice from Gandalf seemed absurd. (The Lord of the Rings: 73-74)
carriage to the river to ensure their safety before they took the ferry to cross the river that bordered the Shire. He said,
‘...It’s near sundown already, and we are going to have our supper; for we mostly go to bed soon after the Sun. If you and Mr. Peregrin and all could stay and have a bite with us, we would be pleased!’
‘... after a bit of supper; I’ll get out a small waggon, and I’ll drive you all to the Ferry. That will save you a good step, and it might also save you trouble of another sort.’
(The Lord of the Rings: 93)
Arrived in Frodo’s house in Buckland village, Sam, Merry and Pippin made a confession that they had been spying on Frodo and knew Frodo’s plan to journeyed West although Frodo had been keeping it as secret. The loyal best friends also revealed their intention to go with Frodo. At first, Frodo rejected to the idea, but they managed to convince him that he would need some friends to go with him as Merry said in the following quotation
‘You must go – and therefore we must, too. Merry and I are coming with you. Sam is an excellent fellow, and would jump down a dragon’s throat to save you, if he did not trip over his own feet; but you will need more than one companion in your dangerous adventure.’
(The Lord of the Rings: 102)
What people said about Old Forest was not completely wrong, especially related to the weird experience that the hobbits went through. Although they finally escaped the Black Riders, they met another problem when they were resting around an old Willow tree. Turns out, the Willow tree is not just another tree. Instead, it the tree possessed a kind of magical power and seemed to be more life than regular tree because somehow the Willow tree could hypnotize Frodo and trapped Merry and Pippin under the bough as explain in the following quotation,
Frodo was in the water close to the edge, and a great tree root seemed to be over him and holding him down, but he was not struggling. ... Pippin had vanished. The crack by which he had laid himself had closed together, so that not a chink could be seen. Merry was trapped: another crack had closed about his waist; his legs lay outside, but the rest of him was inside a dark opening, the edges of which gripped like a pair of pincers.
(The Lord of the Rings: 115)
Sam panicked and grabbed Frodo by his jacket, and dragged him out of the water. Soon Frodo came to consciousness and both of them to the tree and beat upon the tree trunk that swallowed Pippin and Merry. Fortunately, there was a little man wearing bright colours outfit namely Tom Bombadil came by and helped them. “Tom put his mouth to the crack and began singing into it in a low voice” (The Lord of the Rings: 118). Soon after that, Merry was out of the tree and “There was a tearing creak and the other crack split open, and out of it Pippin sprang, as if he had been kicked.” (The
Lord of the Rings: 118).
“...is the Master of wood, water, and hill” (The Lord of the Rings: 122). Moreover, he was the only person who was not influence by the power of One Ring. The Ring did not make him disappear as illustrated by following quotation “Then Tom put the Ring round the end of his little finger and held it up to the candlelight. For a moment the hobbits noticed nothing strange about this. Then they gasped. There was no sign of Tom disappearing!” (The Lord of the Rings: 130). Moreover, he could see people while they were wearing the Ring, although they supposed to disappear while wearing the Ring. The quotation below illustrates how Tom was able to see Frodo while Frodo was wearing the Ring,
...he slipped the Ring on...Merry was staring blankly at his chair, and obviously could not see him. He got up and crept quietly away from the fireside towards the outer door.
‘Hey there!’ cried Tom, glancing towards him with a most seeing look in his shining eyes. ‘Hey! Come Frodo, there! Where be you a-going? Old Tom
Bombadil’s not as blind as that yet. Take off your golden ring! Your hand’s more fair without it. Come back! Leave your game and sit down beside me!
(The Lord of the Rings: 131)
And unlike any other people, Tom did not have the lust to own the ring no matter how long he stared at it. He returned the Ring to Frodo willingly, after observing it for a while.
When the hobbits left Tom’s house, Tom taught the hobbits a tune to call him whenever they were in danger and needed protection. The tune went as follows,
Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo!
The tune was useful when the hobbits were captured by an evil spirit namely Barrow Wights, who dwelled in a place named Barrow Downs. Again, Tom Bombadil came to rescue them and this time he decided to walk to the hobbits until the border of his kingdom.
Finally, the hobbits arrived in Bree and they directly headed to an inn called Prancing Pony as appointed by Gandalf. Amusing people with his joke at the bar, somehow Pippin was carried away by the attention while they actually need to stay covered. Trying to make distraction, Frodo went singing in front of many people who offered him more drinks, and that was when One Ring slipped to Frodo’s hand as he fell down and made him disappear. Tolkien describes in the novel that the way the Ring accidentally slipped into Frodo’s finger is very weird as describes by the following quotation, “How it came to be on his finger he could not tell. He could only suppose that he had been handling it in his pocket while he sang, and that somehow it had slipped on when he stuck out his hand with a jerk to save his fall.” (The Lord of
the Rings: 157)
The evidence of a hobbit that suddenly popped-off in the bar had created great attention to all people present at the bar, including a traveller named Aragorn the Strider. A few minutes later, he came to Frodo offering himself to accompany the hobbits. As the hobbits did not seem impressed with his creepy appearance, they rejected the offer until Frodo read a note from Gandalf passed by Mr. Butterbur, the innkeeper. Gandalf said in the note, “You may meet a friend of mine on the Road: a
you. Make for Rivendell. There I hope we may meet again.” (The Lord of the Rings: 166). Then Frodo decided to trust Aragorn to be his guidance to Rivendell.
The journey did not seem easier even that now they went with Aragorn. All they did every single day was walking and the Black Riders were still chasing them. One night when they camped in Amon Sûl (a watch tower on top of a hill named Weathertop), five Black Riders came and attacked them as describes in the following quotation,
There were five tall figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing. In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel. Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they rushed towards him.
(The Lord of the Rings: 191)
The Chief of the Black Riders stabbed Frodo with the morgul knife, a poisonous witch’s sword belong to the Witch King, a few second before Aragorn managed to drive them away. The rest of the journey to Rivendell was all about running in a hurry both because they needed to arrive in Rivendell in time to heal Frodo and because the Black Riders were still pursuing them.
A few days after they arrived there, a meeting called the Council of Elrond was held. The meeting invites representatives from all creatures such as hobbit, men, dwarf and elf, also all people who knew the history of One Ring since it was created until now. The meeting was led by Elrond who was also the host. At first, the meeting discussed the history of the One Ring since it was secretly created by Sauron to fulfil his desire to conquer Middle Earth. It was continued to discuss what to do with the One Ring knowing that its existence might lead to a huge war because Sauron, and his followers would try to take over it before using its power to conquer Middle Earth. Sauron himself was dead during the first War of the Ring, but his spirit still lived on Middle Earth. He was getting stronger and he could take shape as soon as he got One Ring.
An offer was given for anyone who wanted to go with Frodo the Ring-bearer to East. Elrond suggested, “The Company of the Ring shall be Nine; and the Nine Walkers shall be set against the Nine Riders that are evil.” (The Lord of the Rings: 268). Frodo’s hobbit best friends, Sam, Merry and Pippin, were the first among everyone to offer themselves to go with Frodo. The rest five people were representative from each race, Legolas the wood-elf would be representing Elves, Aragorn and Boromir would be representing man, Gimli the dwarf would be representing Dwarves, and Gandalf the wizard would also join the journey.
Knowing that Frodo certainly was going to set out for a long journey just like Bilbo did when he was at Frodo’s age, Bilbo tried to support Frodo by giving him advices and tools that might be useful throughout the journey. It seems like the father and son reunited and supporting each other again after being separated for so long. Bilbo gave Frodo a mithril-coat, which is a coat made from mithril, the finest silver that worth more than gold in Middle Earth. He also gave Frodo an elven sword named Sting. The sword used to save Bilbo’s life during many adventures at his younger age. It could glow whenever Orc, evil creature allied to Sauron, was nearby.
massive snowstorm during their journey to the peak of the mountain. After a debate during the night, they decided to retreat and go through Moria instead as written in the book, “Caradhras had defeated them” (The Lord of the Rings: 286).
Turnout, going through Moria was not a pleasant choice either. As they arrived at the gate of the kingdom, it was closed and locked by secret password. When they finally figured out what the password was, water monster suddenly sprung its tentacles from a lake in front of the gate as described in the book “Out from the water a long sinuous tentacle had crawled; it was pale-green and luminous and wet.” (The
Lord of the Rings: 300). Moreover, the tentacles destroyed the gate that made the Company of the Ring trapped inside Moria as described in the following quotation,
Many coiling arms seized the doors on either side, and with horrible strength, swung them round. With a shattering echo they slammed, and all light was lost. A noise of rending and crashing came dully through the ponderous stone.
(The Lord of the Rings: 301)
that caught Gandalf’s knees causing him to fall to the pit as illustrated in the following quotation,
With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thong lashed and curled about the wizard’s knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss.
(The Lord of the Rings: 322)
The rest members of Company of the Ring were shock to see that, but the journey must go on and at that moment, they were dealing with a company of enemies to escape from, so they hurriedly went out from Moria.
The Company of the Rings continued the journey thus Aragorn led them to go through the direction that Gandalf used to advice, the wood of Lothlórien where the hidden Elven kingdom located. The elven kingdom was led by Lord Celeborn and Queen Galadriel. Queen Galadriel was a mighty queen and the most powerful woman in Middle Earth. She protected her folk by using her strong mind power that worked all the way through the border of the country. Once she said to Frodo concerning the threat from Sauron, “I say to you, Frodo, that even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought. But still the door is closed!” (The Lord of the
through their mind. All members of the Company of the Rings felt like the Queen tested their willingness to go with the Ring bearer as illustrated in the following quotation,
All of them, it seemed, had fared alike: each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others.
(The Lord of the Rings: 349)
Despite of that, the Company of the Ring decided to stay for a few days under the shelter of elf of Lothlórien.
Once, Frodo and Galadriel made a private conversation, in which the queen show him her magic ring called Nenya and show the mirror of Galadriel that enable Frodo to see the Shire and some future possibility. In that chance, Frodo gave a test to Galadriel by offering her One Ring. Queen Galadriel refused to keep it, and that was how the queen passed the test. However, Galadriel admired Frodo’s wisdom to test her by saying, “Wise the Lady Galadriel may be ... yet here she has met her match in courtesy” (The Lord of the Rings: 356).
places, when all other lights go out” (The Lord of the Rings: 367). The Company of the Ring set out through Great River by boat made and provided by the elf of Lothlórien.
One day, the Company of the Ring rested ashore, and Frodo wandered around a wood to have a clear mind to think about what to do next with One Ring. Boromir approached him and persuaded him to use the power of the ring to support armies of Minas Tirith. Moreover, Boromir became more forceful as Frodo refused the idea, in which he said,
‘Why are you so unfriendly?’... ‘I am a true man, neither thief nor tracker. I need your Ring: that you know now; but I give you my word that I do not desire to keep it. Will you not at least let me make trial of my plan? Lend me the Ring!’ ‘No! No!’ cried Frodo. ‘The Council laid it upon me to bear it.’
‘It is by your own folly that the Enemy will defeat us,’... ‘How it angers me! Fool! Obstinate fool! Running wilfully to death and ruining our cause. If any mortals have claim to the Ring, it is the men of Nùmenor, and not Halflings. It is not yours save by unhappy chance. It might have been mine. It should be mine. Give it to me!’
(The Lord of the Rings: 390)
As Boromir “fair and pleasant face was hideously changed; a raging fire was in his eyes.” (The Lord of the Rings: 390), Frodo put on the Ring on his finger and vanished to avoid Boromir.
for Frodo. Aragorn went with Sam, Boromir with Merry and Pippin, while Gimli with Legolas.
As they split to different direction, Sam thought that Frodo might go to the boat, so he left Aragorn and went to the boat the Company left. Sam’s guess was right as he found Frodo tried to escape using one of the boat through the Great River. Sam jumped into water trying to catch up with Frodo although he could not swim and almost drowned. Frodo caught him and dragged him to the boat. Although Frodo’s plan to leave the Company of the Rings and go to East by himself was failed, he felt happy nonetheless as illustrated by Frodo’s statement quoted below,
‘So all my plan is spoilt!’ said Frodo. ‘It is no good trying to escape you. But I’m glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. Come along! It is plain that we were meant to go together. We will go, and may the others find a safe road! Strider will look after them. I don’t suppose we shall see them again.’
(The Lord of the Rings: 397)
The breaking of the company happened as Frodo and Sam left the Company of the Rings. This scene also marked an end for the first series ofThe Lord of the Rings,The
Fellowship of the Ring.
The second series ofThe Lord of the Rings,The Two Towersbegin as a company of orcs and uruks attacked Boromir, who, at that time, was with Merry and Pippin. Boromir blew his horn, but still Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli came too late after Boromir was dying and Merry and Pippin was taken away by the orcs and uruks as illustrated by Boromir’s last word before he was dead as quoted below,
‘Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed.’ (The Lord of the Rings: 404)
Boromir was dead, Merry and Pippin were kidnapped by orcs and uruks, thus Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli tried to pursue the orcs and uruks to save the two hobbits, while Sam and Frodo cruised down the Great River trying to find their way to Mount Doom. As the Company of the Ring broke off, the members were having their own adventure in separate places. The journey taken by Frodo and Sam to Mount Doom indicates the main effort to resolve the main conflict that is to destroy the One Ring. Meanwhile, the journey taken by other characters, such as the rest members of the Company of the Ring, indicates the supporting effort to resolve the main conflict.
During a few first chapters of the second series, Tolkien continued the story by focusing on Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, who were pursuing the orcs and uruks to save Merry and Pippin. When they arrived at Rohan they met the Riders of Rohan, who were patrolling around the area led by Éomer, their leader. Riders of Rohan were the armies of Rohan, they rode horse, and in fact, Rohan was best known for the quality of the horses. The following quotation illustrates about the Riders of Rohan,
Their horses were of great stature, strong and clean-limbed; their grey coats glistened, their long tails flowed in the wind, their manes were braided on their proud necks. The Men that rode them matched them well: tall and long-limbed; their hair, flaxen-pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in long braids behind them; their faces were stern and keen. In their hands were tall spears of ash, painted shields were slung at their backs, long swords were at their belts, their burnished shirts of mail hung down upon their knees.
As Aragorn asked Éomer whether he saw a company of Orcs carrying Hobbit as their hostage, Éomer told the Company of the Ring that last night they just slew a company of orcs and uruks, and they had cremated all the dead body. Moreover, Éomer was very convinced that “no Orc escaped after we sighted them.” (The Lord of the Rings: 427). Despite of what Éomer’s had said, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli still continued their pursued. Éomer lend them two horses, Arod and Hasufel.
While Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were pursuing the orcs and uruks, Merry and Pippin’s life were at risk as the orcs and uruks started to debate whether they would kill and eat the hobbits or not as illustrated in the following quotation,
There was an angry debate concerning what they were to do now: which way they were to take and what should be done with the prisoners.
‘... But why not kill them quick, kill them now? They’re cursed nuisance, and we’re in a hurry. Evening’s coming on, and we ought to get a move on.’
‘Orders,’ said a third voice in a deep growl. ‘Kill all but NOT the Halflings; they are to be brought back ALIVE as quickly as possible. That’s my orders.’
‘What are they wanted for?’ asked several voices. ‘Why alive? Do they give good sport?’
(The Lord of the Rings: 435)
The debate ended as, Uglúk the Uruk commander, killed two of the Orcs by swinging his sword to their heads.
One night, an Orc named Grisnákh, who knew about the One Ring, came to Merry and Pippin to look for a chance of claiming the Ring. Merry managed to use Grisnákh’s desire to release them. Fortunately, suddenly the Riders of Rohan attack the orc and Uruk, which gave them the opportunity to escape as described below,
Suddenly Merry and Pippin realized that without moving they were now outside the circle: there was nothing between them and escape.
(The Lord of the Rings: 447)
Merry and Pippin ran to Fangorn Forest, where they met an ent named Treebeard, the guardian of the forest. Ent is a tree that could talk, walk, as well as moving any parts of its body.
Following information from Éomer, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli went to the pile of the cremated orcs and uruks dead body. Aragorn traced some marks on the grass and concluded that the two hobbits somehow escaped and ran in to Fangorn Forest. To the surprise of three member of Company of the Ring, they met Gandalf instead in Fangorn Forest. Gandalf, used to be known as Gandalf the grey wizard thus he wore grey garments, had changed his appearance especially remarkable by the white garment that he wore. Now, he became Gandalf the white. He explained that after beaten Balrog and fell to the deepest pit, he was sent back to replace the corrupted Saruman, who fell to his desire to own One Ring and became supporter of the enemy. He also explained that the two hobbits were now in the safe hand with Treebeard and the ents. He suggested the Company of the Ring to go the Golden Hall of King Théoden, or the castle where the family of King of Rohan lived, to prepare for the war of the ring.
worm-tongue. Gandalf knew that it was caused by Saruman’s magic brought by Grima Worm-tongue. The quotation below is what King Théoden said to welcome Gandalf while the King was still under the influence of Saruman’s magic,
‘I greet you,’ he said, ‘and maybe you look for welcome. But truth to tell your welcome is doubtful here, Master Gandalf. You have ever been a herald of woe. Troubles follow you like crows, and ever the oftener the worse. I will not deceive you ... when Éomer brought the tidings that you had gone at last to your long home, I did not mourn. But news from afar is seldom sooth. Here you come again! And with you come evils worse than before, as might be expected. Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow? Tell me that.’
(The Lord of the Rings: 501)
As Théoden said that, Gandalf were involved in a debate against Théoden and Grima Wormtongue, in which Gandalf convinced that Théoden were under influence of Saruman’s magic. Thus Gandalf tried to heal Théoden by his magic as illustrated by the following quotation,
‘Now Théoden son of Thengel, will you hearken to me?’ said Gandalf. ‘Do you ask for help?’ He lifted his staff and pointed to a high window. There the darkness seemed to clear, and through the opening could be seen, high and far, a patch of shining sky.
...
Slowly Théoden left his chair. A faint light grew in the hall again ... and with faltering steps the old man came down from the dais and paced softly through the hall.
...
From the king’s hand the black staff fell clattering on the stones. He drew himself up, slowly, as a man that is stiff from long bending over some dull toil. Now tall and straight he stood , and his eyes were blue as he looked into the opening sky.
(The Lord of the Rings: 502)
The war between the Men of Rohan against men of East, Orcs and Uruks was happened in a fortress in Rohan called Helm’s Deep. By the dawn, Gandalf came bringing a company of Striders. Striders are men who dedicated themselves to be a wanderer to secure many areas of Middle Earth against evil, which made them to be mighty warriors. The coming of Gandalf and the Striders to aid the war managed to conclude the winner of the war to Rohan as describes by the following quotation,
Down from the hills leaped Erkenbrand, lord of Westfold. Down leaped Shadowfax, like a deer that runs surefooted in the mountains. The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness. The wild men fell on their faces before him. The Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear. Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they fled.
(The Lord of the Rings: 529)
After the war was won, Gandalf brought the people of Rohan and the Company of the Ring to Isengard. To their surprise, they found the two hobbits, Merry and Pippin, sat around the ruins of a fortress with the Ents. Riders of Rohan were also surprised to see Ents, since they never knew that such creature were existed. It was revealed that during the Entmoot (a moot involving Ents all from each type of tree in Fangorn forest), after deciding that Merry and Pippin was a hobbit instead of orc, suddenly the Ent decided to attack Isengard (Saruman’s castle). The attack was successful since most of the parts of the fortress were destroyed except the Orthanc (the tower where Saruman’s lived), and Uruks and Orcs were nowhere to be seen. The following quotation illustrates the attack, which in the book described by Pippin,
like a howling gale, breaking pillars, hurling avalanches of boulders down the shafts, tossing up huge slabs of stone into the air like leaves. The tower was in the middle of a spinning whirlwind. I saw iron posts and blocks of masonry go rocketing up hundreds of feet, and smash against the windows of Orthanc. ... Many of the Ents were hurling themselves against the Orthanc-rock; but that defeated them. It is very smooth and hard. Some wizardry is in it, perhaps, older and stronger than Saruman’s. Anyway they could not get a grip on it, or make a crack in it; and they were bruising and wounding themselves against it.
(The Lord of the Rings: 554)
Gandalf led the Company of the Ring and men of Rohan to deal with Saruman in his tower, Orthanc. After debated with Saruman, Gandalf, who was now the leader of all wizards in Middle Earth, revoked Saruman’s power. Gandalf said to Saruman, “I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council. ... Saruman, your staff is broken. ... Go!” (The Lord of the Rings: 569). Saruman was cast out from the White Council and his staff was broken to prevent him using his magic for evil purpose. Knowing that Saruman no longer had any power, Gandalf released him. Surprisingly, on his way out of Orthanc, Grima threw Saruman with a crystal ball named Palantír, but missed. Palantír was a crystal ball, which used by Sauron’s followers to communicate to each other. There were seven Palantír placed in different areas of Middle Earth. The magic within Palantír could charm people to keep looking at it and infuse their mind with evil thought.
eye appear because he could not hold the awful vision from the crystal ball. The following quotation illustrated the way Palantír worked on its magic on Pippin,
Pippin sat with his knees drawn up and the ball between them. He bent low over it, looking like a greedy child stooping over a bowl of food, in a corner away from others. He drew his cloak aside and gazed it. The air seemed still and tense about him. At first the globe was dark, black as jet, with the moonlight gleaming on its surface. Then there came a faint glow and stir in the heart of it, and it held his eyes, so that now he could not look away. Soon all the inside seemed on fire; the ball was spinning, or the lights within were revolving. Suddenly the lights went out. He gave a gasp and struggled; but he remained bent, clasping the ball with both hands. Closer and closer he bent, and then became rigid; his lips moved soundlessly for a while. Then with a strangled cry he fell back and lay still. (The Lord of the Rings: 578)
Gandalf woke up and very concerned to know what happened, thus he decided to take Pippin away from the crystal ball. Gandalf took Pippin to Minas Tirith by himself and entrusted the crystal ball to Aragorn with the expectation that Aragorn would make a wise use out of it.
