- Title: Part Three – The Return of the King
- Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Published: 1955
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- ISBN: 0-00-712972-6
He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.
Sam – the last sentence of the book
Even the grandest epic must come to an end. The Ring is destroyed, the king returns to Middle Earth, and the hobbits come back to their hometown, the Shire. The last sentence of the culmination of the book’s theme. “We are back to as it was or is supposed to be.“
Now, we can talk about the whole book in general. It is amazing how more than 1,000 pages of story can be interwoven into a single epic that incessantly triggers philosophical thoughts.
After the war, the fate of each race is different. The evil times affected every race on Middle Earth, but the battle is not fought by everyone alike. It is the victory of men against the evil power. Elves move to the west, dwarves are back to their mines, Ents stay in the forest, and even hobbits are back to the Shire. Only men actively fought against evil and earned a chance to spread and prosper as a reward.
Hobbits, just like their nature, want to return to their old home and resume their quiet lives. But freedom does come for free. Hobbits had to fight back and gain their freedom by themselves. No one, even Gandalf, does not help them. By only doing so, hobbits can have the right to live independently without interference.
“What do you fear, lady?” Aragorn asked.
from the book
“A cage,” Éowyn said. “To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
While others try to stay the same, men are eager to move forward. Éowyn is a character who fights against the gender barrier. Even though the description of her character shows the limitation of the thought boundary from the male author, Tolkien throws a powerful counter for gender awareness.
“Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.”
from the book
Finally, let’s see how we can move forward. Can any lessons from the book make our lives better? The power of book is to open various paths for its readers. Each of you will find a different answer. I would like to point one thing, though! Life is very valuable, and there is so much to enjoy and to do!
Scriptorium 