The value of heroism in the characteristics of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of The Rings : The Fellowship of The Ring - USD Repository
THE VAL FROD LUE OF H DO BAGG FE A
Presented ENGLI DEPA SA HEROISM GINS IN T
FELLOWSH AN UNDER d as Partial F for the Deg in E
Petrus Ro Student N
i
M IN THE
THE LORD
SHIP OF T
RGRADUAT
Fulfillment o
gree of Sarja
English Lette
By
onald Adi P
Number: 034
ERS STUDY
T OF ENGL
TY OF LETHARMA UN
GYAKART
2011
E CHARACD OF THE THE RING TE THESIS of the Requir ana Sastra ers
Prasetiyo 4214002
ISH LETTE ARTMENT FACULT ANATA DH YO
Y PROGRA LISH LETTE TTERS NIVERSITY TA CTERIST E RINGS: G S rements
AMME ERS Y TICS OF THE
CANNOT WRITE A LOT
DOES NOT MEAN STUPID……….
Hero is not born, it is made -NN- For God almighty
My beloved mom My lovely girl Thank you so much
My special thanks for The little “big” T
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank God for always being here for me, blessing me, and always showing me the way. I would also like to thank for my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd.,
M.Hum, for all her support, comments, and criticism which are very helpful to finish my thesis. I also thank my co-advisor, Tatang Iskarna, S.S., M.Hum, for his carefulness in reading and checking my thesis.
My special gratitude for my special persons in my life: my mom and my love. To my mom, I thank her for always understanding and supporting me. I will never thank her enough.
My special thanks are for the best friend that I have ever met, miss T. my special gratitude for all your support since my first year in campus. I also thank to miss T for giving me idea and showing me how to write.
At last, but not least, I can finish my thesis. Nothing is perfect, including my thesis.
Petrus Ronald Adi P.
TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ……………………………………….……………….…… i
APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………..……………......... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE …………………………………………….….… iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ................. ivMOTTO PAGE ……………………………………………………...…… v
DEDICATION PAGE ……………………………………………..…….. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………...……………… vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………... viii
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………...…………. x
ABSTRAK ................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION …………………………………..…… 1 A. Background of the Study …………………………………………. 1 B. Problem Formulation ………………………………………….…. 11 C. Objectives of the Study …………………………….…………….. 11 D. Definition of Terms ………………………………………………. 11
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW…………………….……… 13
A. Review of Related Studies ……………………………………….. 14 B. Review of Related Theories ……………………………………… 181. Theory of Character and Characterization ………………….. 18
2. The Value of Heroism ………………………………….…….. 20
C. Theoretical Framework ……………………………………….….. 24
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………………………….………… 25
A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………….. 25 B. Approach of the Study …………………………………...………. 26 C. Method of the Study ……………………………………………… 27CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………….……. 29
A. The Characteristics of Frodo Baggins …………………………… 301. Friendly …………………………………………………….…. 30
2. Curious ………………………………………………………… 31
3. Sacrificial ……………………………………………………... 32
4. Responsible …………………………………………………… 33
5. Honest and Faithful …………………………………………… 35
6. Courageous ……………………………………………………. 37
7. Optimistic ………………………………………………….…. 38
8. Clumsy ………………………………………………………… 40
B. Value of Heroism inside the Characteristics of Frodo Baggins …. 41
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………………………………………… 50
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………... 52
ABSTRACT
Petrus Ronald adi prasetiyo (2011) The Value of Heroism in the Characteristics
of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.The thesis focuses on the characteristics of Frodo Baggins in the novel of
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring written by John Ronald Reuel
Tolkien and what makes him chosen as the ring bearer.The research is meant to answer the problem about the value of heroism inside a character. There are two problems to be analyzed. First, the question reveals what the characteristics of Frodo Baggins are. The second question reveals how the value of heroism is described in the characteristics of Frodo Baggins.
The method that is used in the study is library research. It means that the study is done by reading, collecting data and information which are considered as accurate, and valid as the source of the study. The writer uses the theory of character and characterization to analyze the character of Frodo Baggins. The value of heroism theory is used to analyze value of heroism inside Frodo’s character. In this thesis, the writer uses the moral-philosophical approach because the writer wants to focus on analyzing the moral value of the character.
The analysis finds out that the characters of Frodo Baggins are friendly, curious, sacrificial, responsible, honest and faithful, courageous, optimistic, and also clumsy. The analysis also finds out the values of heroism inside Frodo are bravery, courage, valor, determination, dedication, endurance, perseverance, selflessness, sacrifice, and also humility.
Finally, the conclusion finds out the reason why Frodo is chosen as the ring bearer. The conclusion also finds out that the value of heroism inside the character of Frodo Baggins more tends to his characterization inside.
ABSTRAK
Petrus Ronald adi prasetiyo (2011) The Value of Heroism in the Characteristics
of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
YOGYAKARTA: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.Skripsi ini berfokus kepada karakteristik dari Frodo Baggins dalam novel
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring karya John Ronald Reuel
Tolkien dan apa yang membuatnya terpilih sebagai pembawa cincin.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjawab permasalahan tentang nilai kepahlawanan di dalam seorang karakter. Terdapat dua problematika untuk dianalisa. Pertama, pertanyaan mengenai bagaimana kah karakteristik dari Frodo Baggins. Pertanyaan kedua mengenai bagaimana kah nilai kepahlawanan dideskripsikan dalam karakteristik dari Frodo Baggins.
Metode yang digunakan dalam pembelajaran ini adalah metode pencarian pustaka. Yang berarti pembelajaran dilakukan dengan pembacaan, dan pengumpulan data dan informasi yang dianggap akurat dan valid sebagai sumber informasi. Penulis menggunakan teori karakter dan karakterisasi untuk menganalisis karakter dari Frodo Baggins. Serta teori nilai-nilai kepahlawanan untuk menganalisis nilai kepahlawanan dalam karakter Frodo. Dalam sekripsi ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan moral-filosofi karena penulis ingin lebih fokus terhadap analisis moral dari sang tokoh . Analisa mendapati bahwa karakteristik dari Frodo Baggins adalah: bersahabat, penuh rasa penasaran, rela berkorban, bertanggung jawab, jujur dan setia, pemberani, optimis, dan juga konyol. Analisa juga mendapati nilai-nilai kepahlawanan yang terdapat dalam Frodo, yaitu: pemberani, tak kenal takut, memiliki kebulatan tekad, berdedikasi, memiliki daya tahan, gigih, tidak egois, rela berkorban, serta rendah hati.
Sebagai akhirnya, dapat disimpulkan tentang alasan terpilihnya Frodo sebagai pembawa cincin. Kesimpulan juga mendapati bahwa nilai kepahlawanan dalam Frodo Baggins lebih cenderung kepada karakteristik dalam dirinya.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTIONThis is the first chapter of the study. This chapter consists of 4 sections: background of the study, problem formulation, objectives of the study, and definition of term. Background of the study consists of description of the topic, and the reason why the topic is chosen. Problem formulation consists of the problem that will be discussed and analyzed in the study. Objectives of the study is clearly about the purpose of the study. And definition of terms is to give explanation about the specific terms that is used in this study.
A. Background of the Study Literature and life are inseparable. In fact, literature is the study of life.
The subject-matter of literature is the presentation of life. Meaning, literature is the communication of the writer’s unique experiences of life. Since literature involves the objective and subjective outlook of the writer, the writer observes humanity and makes the subjective approach to it. It is known that literary works is someway a portrait of what happened in certain period.
In the past the access to literary works was very limited. In the old English time, prose, especially novels did not have an appropriate place until it reached its peak in the first half of the eighteenth century when people (include women) at that time became more educated (Barnard, 1984: 70). Women in the middle-class or upper ranks became more literate and better education coincided for those
women to have more leisure times since they did not have to get involved much deeper in the household anymore, and it seemed that they tried to find something different to satisfy their eagerness in readership (Barnard, 1984: 71). The eagerness to read is fulfilled by reading newspapers, such as the Spectator and the
Tattler (Barnard, 1984: 71). Later, some new writers and their works appeared to
fulfill the thirst for reading for men (and also women) at that time, and as result, more and more novels were published and libraries spread vastly through the land (Barnard, 1984: 72). In the early era of the twentieth century, the economy and technology tend to be in its ‘golden era’, but criticism on the negative sides of the Victorianism (materialism, pride, the bluntness in aesthetic, and also in social- economic relationship) is aroused which results in World War I (Samekto, 2006: 97). Because of the improvements in economy as well as technology, there are more people at that time capable to read some literary works – novels.
Technology makes people easier to get the novels because of the improvements and development in publishing the novels. Moreover, the distribution of the novels is becoming even. In his book, A Short History of English Literature, Robert Barnard (1984) writes “by the middle of the century, circulating libraries were established; by the end of the century they were flourishing all over the country …”.(72) It means that by the development of technology, more and more libraries were built and provided for the readers at that time, whether it was constructed libraries (buildings provided for libraries so that the readers can borrow or read books in there) or circulated libraries reaching for remote areas.
sebagai skeptisme dan sinisme yang muncul ke permukaan ke arah standar etis dan sosial) (Samekto, 2006: 97). In the ‘50s, people of England need something ‘new’ and different for their changes of lives in post-war socialism; they need something to make them satisfy after the horrible war (Barnard, 1984: 190). Slowly they try to improve their lives, and this era is also known as the time of rising economic expectations, especially for the working class (Barnard, 1984: 190). For the rising of economic expectations at that time improve the way of living of the working class, they managed to buy secondary needs, such as cars, televisions as well as novels, instead of primary needs like foods, clothing and places to live (Barnard, 1984: 190). These changes in life in the twentieth century have produced many new writers whether their works made them famous or not. Some of the writers considered as famous writers are Agatha Christie who is well known with her works in mystery and detective novels, Barbara Cartland with her romance novels, Stephen King who is famous with his novels that mostly talk about mystery, horror, and thriller, Herbert George Wells with his science-fiction novels, and many more writers can fulfill the needs of reading for the people in the early era of the twentieth century with their novels. One of the writers in the twentieth century that was considered famous with his works in England as well as in international areas is J. R. R. Tolkien (2001).
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a professor of Anglo-Saxon (old English) in the Oxford University. Some of his famous works are The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), The Silmarillion, Sir Gawain and the
The Lord of the Rings . Tolkien (2001) has mostly been defined by the English
Literature community in England because of his invention of the unbelievable new words, which are actually based on the old English words, and the English Literature community thinks that there are some deviations of using the old English words (Armstrong, 2011). This kind of perception might occur because of ‘the culture-gap’ that exists between Tolkien (2001) and the critics, as it is said by Tom Shippey in his book The Road to Middle-Earth:
… In part to disparities – in age, in temperament, in intellectual training, in religious and moral values – between the author and his commentators (especially professors in American universities). […] Several writers have suggested recently that the toolkit of the professional critic at this time is too small: it does not work at all on whole genres of fiction (especially fantasy and science fiction, but including also the bulk of ‘entertainment’ fiction, i.e. what people most commonly read). […] Tolkien (2001) may be a peripheral writer for the theory of fiction. However it seems to pay more attention to the peripheries and less to the well-trodden centre (Rosebury, 1992: 3).
From this statement, it can be assumed that the ‘culture-gap’ that is talking about has a role as there are big differences in age, in temperament, in intellectual training, in religious and moral values between Tolkien (2001) and the critics. The critics that are mostly from the American universities live in different time than Tolkien (2001) that may result the difference in the way the critics look at his works. They live in different continents (Europe and America) with different background of cultures as well, which can make the way the critics consider a literary works as worth reading or not have a kind of different standard, too. A literary work can be considered as a good writing for the people in England, but maybe it is different for people in America as they see it as a mere piece of
course, the ‘standardizing’ of the literary works here is not all the same for all genres, especially fiction. The critics cannot generalize all the works of different writers from different genres in one standard only for each of the writers has his/her own character in making literary works, especially novels. And the readers conception cannot be denied also as they can have different opinion on a literary work from the critics. A novel is considered as a good novel for the readers but it is not always the same way as the critics, and vice versa. This kind of conception between the readers and the critics from two different countries on Tolkien’s works happens too to the thesis writer as the cultural background as well as the perception on The Lord of the Rings of the thesis writer has a differentiation from Tolkien (2001), the critics, and other readers.
On the other hand, Tolkien’s works have been loved by millions of readers worldwide. Some of his serious readers of The Lord of the Rings had given some enquires about the newly invented and written languages which encouraged
Tolkien (2001) to work harder on his novel. With the reputation of a well-known novelist of the twentieth century as well as a professor in Oxford University, still, there is a kind of ‘negative image’ toward Tolkien’s works that says:
He has attracted such a poor secondary literature (with some distinguished exceptions) might be taken by dismissive critics as a reflection on the quality of his own work – and perhaps it is, though not in the sense the dismisses intend (Rosebury, 1992: 2).
Commentaries that raise to the surface in a group of people (especially the dismissive critics of Tolkien’s works) considered Tolkien’s works as a poor
secondary literature that are not worth enough to be read, and this makes the
works in the same standard with the other writers in the same century for his works are distinctive and unique which can make people who do not really into reading his works, especially the critics that oppose Tolkien, tend to disdain (Tolkien, 2001: 2).
Tolkien’s works mostly talk about the superstitious things that sometimes beyond the imagination of the readers of his books. There is a kind of remark by Brian Rosebury (1992) in his book Tolkien (2001): A Critical Assessment that “The Lord of the Rings deals not with imaginary events in the real world, but with imaginary events in an imaginary world.”(9) This statement can be assumed as there is a difference in Tolkien’s works that makes the characterization of his writings. Usually, fictional writers make some imaginary events that might happen in the real world, but it is different for Tolkien (2001) that he can make an imaginary world completely together with imaginary events that might occur in the world that he has created, the Middle-earth. Tolkien can create an imagination of making the world of the Elves and the other ‘extraordinary’ creatures just like it really happens in the reality, in our world. Even, Tolkien wrote the histories, the family trees of the characters in his novel, and also the maps of the areas where these characters live in, all of them become part of his novel, The Lord of the
Rings . This novel, actually, is a sequel of Tolkien’s former work, The Hobbit
(1937), which tells about the story of Bilbo Baggins’ journey (Bilbo is Frodo Baggins’ – the main character in The Lord of the Rings – uncle). The ability to make this imaginary world looks like really existed is supported by Tolkien’s
Tolkien’s educational background in literature, especially in the old English section, influenced most of his inventions of the new words in his novel –
The Lord of the Rings . Some of the new words are also based on the Sarehole
dialect where he lived in childhood environment outside Birmingham, England (Rogers, 2011). Tolkien (2001) grew up with his keen on the new words that he created by himself, the love of the trees, and, even, he and some of his childhood friends made a group that mostly discussed about the new words (Rogers, 2011). Tolkien’s new words mostly based on Germanic, Finnish, Gothic, and Welsh, as well as the Old and Middle English (Rogers, 2011). The Eleven-language that is spoken in this story is based on Finnish. In fact, the language is still spoken in a town called Vienna-Karelia, a small town in the border of Finland and Russia (Arnaldo-Guizar, 2003: 14) Another character that Tolkien (2001) made based on history of Vienna-Karelia is Gandalf the Grey. In Vienna-Karelia, there is a rune song namely Kalevala – the land of heroes. This rune song much alike Beowulf, an epic saga that is well known in the world of literature (Arnaldo-Guizar, 2003: 14). In Kalevala, the main hero is Vanamoinen who has power in his words in fighting the evil power. This characterization is symbolized in Gandalf the Grey who has power in his words as he is a Wizard who can cast spells and wise in person as well (Arnaldo-Guizar, 2003: 18).
The Lord of the Rings took almost eighteen years of writing process before
it was being published during the year 1954-55 and divided into three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The Lord of the Rings, actually, is not a ‘trilogy’ but a unified work:
words presented in three separately-titled volumes, is set in a world called Middle- Earth, of which the regions we encounter are broadly similar, in climate, geology and vegetation, as well as in scale, to Europe (Rosebury, 1992: 7).
The description of the Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings more or less is very much alike the land in Europe, especially Tolkien’s hometown in the outskirt of Birmingham, England (Arnaldo-Guizar, 2003: 43). The statement above also emphasizes this as it is said that the region, the climate, geology and
vegetation, and the scale of the Middle-earth are similar to Europe which make
the readers, especially for those who live in England, familiar with the setting in The Lord of the Rings .
At that time, people still assumed that the canon (classic works of art, such as novels, plays, or poems. Mostly, they were the works of Shakespeare) were still the best things to be read or watched. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings can make a new success in the people’s way of thinking. This novel can gain its readers by giving something ‘new’ other than the ‘classical works’ of the canon. But, there is a problem in categorizing Tolkien’s work into a specific genre. Tolkien himself prefers ‘tale’, ‘story’ or ‘romance’ rather than to use the word ‘novel’ in describing his work (Rosebury, 1992: 9). Mostly, novels are set in historical world, portray ‘characters and actions credibly representative of real life’, and romances are tales with ‘scene and incidents remote from everyday life’ (Rosebury, 1992: 10). There is a critic on giving comment toward Tolkien’s The
Lord of the Rings that “… the novel shows life as it truly is, in all its concrete
the characters in The Lord of the Rings show the lives of the people in real world with their activities, but they all are symbolized in tragic way that full of eeriness, conflicts, and magical things as it is happened in The Lord of the Rings.
This imaginary world of The Lord of the Rings creates an understanding among some critics that: … The imagined world is underpinned by an optimistic, and occasionally explicit, theology of a quite different kind. […] though the world is pre- Christian, there is no doubt that we are in an Augustinian universe, in which all Creation is good, and evil is conceived in terms of freely-chosen negation, of a willful abdication from an original state of created perfection (Rosebury, 1992: 30). The world of Middle-earth, as it is explained before, based on Tolkien’s background in academic life, in his belief as a Christian, in his life as an officer in the World War as well as his own imagination about making another legend of his own (Arnaldo-Guizar, 2003: 17) Although the world in The Lord of the Rings is totally fictional, there are some messages of religion, especially Christian in Augustinian period, as Rosebury (1992) has said in his statement above that “all Creation is good and evil is conceived in terms of freely-chosen negation.” All creation (humans and the nature) is created in good deed for resulting in advantage for the creation itself in the end, but then it is the creation who should makeup his/her own mind whether to choose the right way or the wrong one.
This extraordinary way of thinking that can create such an imagination affects the thesis writer to know deeper about the works of J. R. R. Tolkien (2001), especially The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which has already been a phenomenon, especially among his avid readers. It also cannot be
The Lord of the Rings . This is shown as the bearing of the Ring from the Shire
where Frodo lives to another places (Rivendell, and finally to Mount Doom in Mordor) as the symbolization of the transfer of power in the World War II (Arnaldo-Guizar, 2003: 29-32). Another influence of the World War in The Lord
of the Rings can also be seen in the battle between the Fellowship of the Ring and
the Orcs in Mines of Moria as a symbol of Battle of Somme where Tolkien (2001) as a British officer was trapped in a pit together with his fellow soldiers (Arnaldo- Guizar, 2003: 17). From his experiences while he was still an officer in the World War as well as his eagerness in old English and other tales and history that ever exist in Europe, such as Beowulf and Kalevala (Arnaldo-Guizar, 2003: 18), Tolkien (2001) wrote his most famous novel, The Lord of the Rings.
J. R. R. Tolkien through his book, The Lord of the Rings, gives another perspective about heroism that is reflected through the main character of the book, Frodo Baggins. Frodo, a hobbit, is a character that looks like very usual, a character that seems nothing special inside, nothing will makes him looks like a hero. Basically there is no stereotype of a hero that can be seen inside Frodo, especially through his physical appearance; but deep inside, there is something different about him. There is something inside Frodo that makes him unique and different, something that makes him special. In this case, the unique character of Frodo Baggins makes the thesis writer wants to analyze more about him and the possibilities of other influences that can make Frodo chosen as the ring bearer.
B.
Problem Formulation There are some questions that would be answered in this thesis.
1. What are the characteristics of Frodo Baggins?
2. How is the value of heroism described in the characteristics of Frodo Baggins? C.
Objectives of the Study
This study reveals the characteristics of Frodo Baggins, and something inside him that makes him so different from his race, something that makes him unique and special, this study reveals the value of heroism described inside the character of Frodo that makes him chosen as the Ring-bearer. The objectives of the study are to understand the characteristics of Frodo Baggins, and to understand the value of heroism described in the characteristics of Frodo Baggins.
D. Definition of Terms
The discussion in this thesis will be limited to the main character, Frodo Baggins, and the influences that he gets from his environment, his friends and relatives, and his enemies.
Since the writer’s attention is as the central character of the play, then, the second term that is used “characterization”. Holman and Harmon in a Handbook
to Literature say “characterization is the creation of playwright’s imagination
about character as real human being, so that they exist for the audience or reader
Dictionary of Literary Terms written by Chris Baldick, there is an exception
stating that central character is the main on the nuclear personage in a narrative or dramatic work (1990: 33).
Since the focus of the writer is about heroism, the writer uses the term “value of heroism”. A real hero is someone who faces everyday challenges bravely and lives with a smile despite problems and shortcomings (Jadhav, 2010).
According to Jadhav (2010), there are 10 characteristics of a hero, such as: bravery, courage, determination, dedication, endurance, perseverance, valor, selflessness, sacrifice, and humility.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW Theoretical review, this chapter consists of review of related studies,
review of related theories and theoretical framework. Review of related studies is presented in order to give information on the work that is analyzed. Review of related theories consists of the theories that are used to analyze the problems. And the theoretical framework provides the use of the theories in order to analyze the problems.
Theory is a set of proposition that is clarified systematically and related logically, firmly based on the empirical data (Veeger, 1993: 28). Moral philosophical would interpret literature within a context of the philosophical thought of a period or group (Guerin, 1992: 25-26). Kinds of moral that can be taken from The Lord of the Rings can be from the habitual things and also values in the society of the inhabitant that exist in the world of Middle-earth. For this novel is purely fictional, the inhabitants do not exist in the real world of ours and the events do not really happen as well, but there are some religious messages that are symbolized in different way, such as the symbolization of the Dark Lord Sauron. He is symbolized as a fallen angel that cannot recreate his body after being destroyed in the Battle of Dagorlad in the Second Age of Middle-earth years ago and only existed in Middle-earth as an abominable spirit which is symbolized in the shape of gleaming eye on the top of his tower, Barad-dûr, in Mordor.
A. Review of Related Studies
The moral lesson in The Lord of the Rings shows that, like what a proverb says, ‘there is no garden without its weeds’ (there is nothing perfect. Every man must have weaknesses) (Habeyb, 1982: 90). What is seen in the beginning would not be the same in the end. The ‘good’, along with the flow of the story, finally becomes the evil, and the ‘evil’ creatures in The Lord of the Rings are not usually devilish from the first (Rosebury, 1992: 33). There is an ambiguity that the ‘good’ will be good forever and the ‘evil’ will be bad until the end of the story. Like what W. H. Auden says that:
If […] Good and Evil are to be incarnated in individuals and societies, we must be convinced that the Evil side is what every sane man, irrespective of his nationality or culture, would acknowledge as evil. The triumph of Good over Evil […] must appear historically possible, not a daydream. Physical, and to a considerable extent, intellectual power must be shown as what we know them to be, morally neutral and effectively real: battles are won by the stronger side, be it good or evil (Rosebury, 1992: 31). From the last sentence only: battles are won by the stronger side, be it
good or evil , it can give a kind of assumption that there is an uncertainty of the
good side will be victorious forever. Ideally, the evil power should be defeated by the good although it has to take a long time to do it. From a long time ago, it is known that the good will be good forever until the end of time and the evil will remain evil till the last. But in The Lord of the Rings, there is an ambiguity in determining which one is ‘good’ and which one is ‘bad’. One example of this changing in the good becomes the evil is the character of Saruman the White. As a be in the good side who fights against the dark power, but then, he tends to choose to be the ally of the Dark Lord Sauron because of his greed in taking the Ring in order to be used for his own importance as well as in dominating the world of Middle-earth.
This kind of perception might occur because of ‘the culture-gap’ that exists between Tolkien (2001) and the critics, as it is said by Tom Shippey in his book The Road to Middle-Earth:
… In part to disparities – in age, in temperament, in intellectual training, in religious and moral values – between the author and his commentators (especially professors in American universities). […] Several writers have suggested recently that the toolkit of the professional critic at this time is too small: it does not work at all on whole genres of fiction (especially fantasy and science fiction, but including also the bulk of ‘entertainment’ fiction, i.e. what people most commonly read). […] Tolkien (2001) may be a peripheral writer for the theory of fiction. However it seems to pay more attention to the peripheries, and less to the well-trodden centre (Rosebury, 1992: 3).
From this statement, it can be assumed that the ‘culture-gap’ has a role as there are big differences in age, in temperament, in intellectual training, in religious and moral values between Tolkien (2001) and the critics. The critics that are mostly from the American universities live in different time than Tolkien (2001) that may result the difference in the way the critics look at his works. They live in different continents (Europe and America) with different background of cultures as well, which can make the way the critics consider a literary works as worth reading or not have a kind of different standard, too. A literary work can be considered as a good writing for the people in England, but maybe it is different for people in America as they see it as a mere piece of writing that cannot make of the literary works here is not all the same for all genres, especially fiction. The critics cannot generalize all the works of different writers from different genres in one standard only for each of the writers has his/her own character in making literary works, especially novels. And the readers conception cannot be denied also as they can have different opinion on a literary work from the critics. A novel is considered as a good novel for the readers but it is not always the same way as the critics, and vice versa. This kind of conception between the readers and the critics from two different countries on Tolkien’s works happens too to the thesis writer as the cultural background as well as the perception on The Lord of the
Rings of the thesis writer has a differentiation from Tolkien (2001), the critics, and
other readers.On the other hand, Tolkien’s works have been loved by millions of readers worldwide. Some of his serious readers of The Lord of the Rings had given some enquires about the newly invented and written languages which encouraged
Tolkien (2001) to work harder on his novel. With the reputation of a well-known novelist of the twentieth century as well as a professor in Oxford University, still, there is a kind of ‘negative image’ toward Tolkien’s works that says:
He has attracted such a poor secondary literature (with some distinguished exceptions) might be taken by dismissive critics as a reflection on the quality of his own work – and perhaps it is, though not in the sense the dismisses intend (Rosebury, 1992: 2).
Commentaries that raise to the surface in a group of people (especially the dismissive critics of Tolkien’s works) considered Tolkien’s works as a poor
secondary literature that are not worth enough to be read, and this makes the works in the same standard with the other writers in the same century for his works are distinctive and unique which can make people who do not really into reading his works, especially the critics that oppose Tolkien, tend to disdain (Rosebury, 1992: 2).
At that time, people still assumed that the canon (classic works of art, such as novels, plays, or poems. Mostly, they were the works of Shakespeare) were still the best things to be read or watched. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings can make a new success in the people’s way of thinking. This novel can gain its readers by giving something ‘new’ other than the ‘classical works’ of the canon. But, there is a problem in categorizing Tolkien’s work into a specific genre. Tolkien himself prefers ‘tale’, ‘story’ or ‘romance’ rather than to use the word ‘novel’ in describing his work (Rosebury, 1992: 9). Mostly, novels are set in historical world, portray ‘characters and actions credibly representative of real life’, and romances are tales with ‘scene and incidents remote from everyday life’ (Rosebury, 1992: 10). There is a critic on giving comment toward Tolkien’s The
Lord of the Rings that “… the novel shows life as it truly is, in all its concrete
tragic elements.”(Rosebury, 1992: 10). That is, the world, the society lives, and the characters in The Lord of the Rings show the lives of the people in real world with their activities, but they all are symbolized in tragic way that full of eeriness, conflicts, and magical things as it is happened in The Lord of the Rings.
This imaginary world of The Lord of the Rings creates an understanding among some critics that:
Christian, there is no doubt that we are in an Augustinian universe, in which all Creation is good, and evil is conceived in terms of freely-chosen negation, of a willful abdication from an original state of created perfection (Rosebury, 1992: 30).
This study focus on the characters of Frodo Baggins and what makes hin chosen as the bearer. Basically, Frodo is just an ordinary hobbit, he lives and acts like an ordinary hobbit. The study will reveal what is inside his characters, as an ordinary hobbit, which makes him chosen as the ring bearer.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Like us, who exist in this world, there are characters that ‘live’ and ‘act’ in the novel. According to Abrams (1981:23), characters are ”the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and disposition qualities that are expressed in what they say (the dialogues) and by what they do (the actions)”. This quotation implies that there is a relation between the presentations of a character as well as his personality traits and what the readers get from his presentation. That is why the characters must be credible, or in other words, the reader must accept them as believable people.
According to M.J. Murphy (1972:161-173) there are nine ways in which an author attempts to make his characters understandable to, and come alive for, his readers: a.
Personal description. The author can describe a character’s physical
b. Character as seen by another. The author can describe a character through
the eyes and opinions of another instead of describing a character directly.
c. Speech. The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the
persons in the book through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving us some clues to his character.
d.
Past life. The author guides the readers to learn something about the person’s past life. The author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, trough the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or trough the medium of another person.
e.
Conversation of others. The authors can also give us clue to a person’s character through the conversation of other people and the things they say about him.
f.
Reactions. The author can give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events.
g.
Direct comment. The author can describe or comments on a person’s character directly.
h.
Thoughts. The author can give us direct knowledge of what person is thinking about.
i.
Mannerisms. The author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies, which tell us something about his character. in two ways: (1) it designated the individual who appear in the story and (2) it refers to the mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and principle that makes up each of these individuals (Stanton, 1965:17). It is similar to what Barnet says that the terms character refers to: (1) figure in literary works, figure here refers to the story performer; and (2) personality, that is, the mental and moral qualities of a figure, as one says that A’s character is strong, weak, or immoral, or whatever (1988:71).