John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, modern day South Africa, to Arthur and Mabel Tolkien. Arthur Tolkien died of rheumatic fever and left his wife alone with two boys to raise on her own. Mabel homeschooled her two kids and young Tolkien took fancy of botany and inspired him to draw plants and landscapes. Tolkien’s mother later died …show more content…
He is most known for writing The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings. The Hobbit is a story about a hobbit on a journey for treasure that is guarded by a dragon. Bilbo, the hobbit, is taken out of his comfort zone and gains wisdom and competence in his journey. There are some comparisons between the hobbit and Tolkien, for example, He was a scholar focused ln school prior to the war and was summoned to fight. Being a student and placed in such a foreign position, he was also taken out of his comfort zone just like Bilbo and experiences personal growth in the process. The Lord of the Rings is the successor to The Hobbit and is about a creation of a ring that rules all other rings of powers. The main antagonists’ purpose of creating such a powerful ring is to conquer all of Middle-earth. The story spans across Middle-earth following the war in the eyes of hobbits, a man, a dwarf, an elven prince, and a wizard. The Lord of The Rings also draws inspiration from Tolkien’s experiences by showing the rise of an opposing force with the task of stopping it left unto a group of individuals who fight to maintain a free world. Tolkien has also written some poems dealing with life, love, and death. For instance, his poem Roads Go Ever On, deals with life is illustrated by the stanza “The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet.” This stanza deals with life as the journey that every single person embarks on and sometimes crossing paths with other individuals seeking the same goal. The next stanza in the poem, “The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with weary feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then?