Fantastical reality in J.R.R tolkien's the lord of the rings

Abstract

The current dissertation undertakes an analytical research that aims at discerning fantastical reality in John Ronald Reuel Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1954). To fulfill this aim, this dissertation will also attempt to demonstrate that Tolkien’s novel, which was written in the midst of the rational thinking and experimentation, embodies and reflects the author’s attempt to reject a mode of depicting reality that is inherent in the Enlightenment philosophy and espoused later by modernism. Thus, the current research seeks to investigate the author’s use of peculiar literary mechanisms as a means to construct his imaginative world as fantasy proves to be an effective way to approach and reflect on the real world. As a postmodern fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings defies the typical perception of fantasy genre as merely entertaining or escapist; however, what this research argues is that Tolkien uses his fantasy work as a tool to blur the line between fantasy and reality. In this regard, an analytical approach is used in order to critically read the significance of concepts like history, religion, good and evil in stitching fantastical reality in the novel.