: Actually, Tolkien said at one point that his story was
: not intended to include any metaphorical/similistic
: (is that a word?) comments on the real world. For
: example, some have commented that LOTR was intended as
: a metaphor of the second world war, which was
: happenning at the time of writing. Tolkien countered
: by saying that, had that theory been correct, Gondor
: would have used the ring to devestate Sauron's forces,
: Barad-dur would have been occupied, not destroyed, in
: Mordor, Saruman would have discovered the last secrets
: of ring-lore and made his own master ring with which
: to devestate his foes, and hobbits would have been
: held in contempt by both sides.
He also siad that allegory (what you're talking about with the WWII thing; ie "plagarising" historical events fopr fiction) and applicability are two entirely differen things - it can indeed relate to us, and any decent work of fiction inevitably does, but it doesn't have to be a carbon-copy of World War Two.
: Largely, the supposed metaphorical/similistic
: significance of LOTR was a product of the Hippie
: movement, who adopted it as a kind of icon in many
: cases. Tolkien always firmly held that there was not
: intended to be a hidden (or not so hidden) message of
: any kind.
: On the other hand, Asimov took the view that it doesn't
: matter whether or not the author intends for a hidden
: message or metaphorical significance to be there, it's
: still just as valid. Or, as he put it "People
: analyse my work and find all kinds of cunning details
: that I can't remember putting in, but which I suppose
: must be there or they wouldn't have found them."
: Martel.
