The second approach has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. Frodo and Sam, Merry and Pippin, Legolas and Gimli, Éowyn and Éomer, Théoden and Denethor, Sauron and the Witch-king of Angmar – I allow them all to reflect themselves in my consciousness regardless of their appearance, race, sex or creed. I can’t ride a horse or swing a sword, and the last time I checked I also couldn’t ignite pinecones using the power of my mind only.īut this doesn’t stop me from asking which parts of me are more Bilbo, and which parts reflect Gollum, where I can be more like Faramir and less like Boromir, or when it’s Gandalf and Galadriel who are speaking to me, and when the voices of Saruman and Grima are whispering in my ears. I am not a three-feet tall hobbit, and no Númenorean blood flows in my veins. Every time I read The Lord of the Rings, I let all the characters reflect themselves in me, and if you ask me there’s no greater privilege than that. These were all examples of how the first approach works, and as you probably figured out by now – that is the way I like to approach The Lord of the Rings or any other book, movie and TV show. Actually, scratch that – it might have been Sam that taught him that only when your heart is true, can you nurture a meaningful relationship and take care of the people dear to you. Wait a minute – what about Galadriel? Maybe he sensed that the secret, safe, flourishing kingdom he had built for himself started to wither away around him, and that it was to sail to the west because his power was waning. Or perhaps it was Smeagol-Gollum who had spent most of his life in the dark with the One Ring until it drove him mad that convinced my friend it was better to do it sooner than later. I could totally see how Frodo’s journey, the heavy burden he carried for so long, that lonely feeling of being both invisible and naked in the dark, all reflected in his mind as a life of evasive denial, and how he equated the dangerous act of destroying the ring, along with all the challenges and hardships it entailed, with the brave act of coming out as gay (in Israel of over 15 years ago).Īnd you know what? Maybe it wasn’t even Frodo, but Aragorn who made him realize he should stop living in exile, take his destiny into his own hands and become the man he was born to be. Even though there is not even a single word about homosexuality in the book, and even though I am not gay myself, it didn’t take much effort for me to understand what he meant by that. One of my best friends once told me that reading The Lord of the Rings was one of things that helped him come out of the closet. These two concepts sound very similar, so I think the best way to explain then is through concrete examples. The first approach views the reader and his or her consciousness as a mirror which is meant to reflect the story and the ideas of its author, while according to the second approach it is the literary work itself which is meant to serve as the mirror and reflect the readers and their consciousness. Approaching the MirrorĪ mirror can also be used to represent two different approaches to read and interpret The Lord of the Rings, or any other piece of literature of course. Finally, when he sees The Eye it’s because no matter how much he will try to suppress it, eventually he will have to contend with Sauron and The Ring’s will. The vision he has afterward of the sea, the ships, the storm, and the battle, is vague because these are all concepts unfamiliar to him. When Frodo looks in the mirror and first sees Gandalf and Bilbo, it’s because they are on the top of his mind. When Sam looks in the Mirror of Galadriel and sees Frodo unconscious and the destruction of The Shire, it’s meant to reflect his love and care for them. A more simplistic classic example of this can be found in Star Wars when Luke asks Master Yoda what’s in the cave on Dagobah and he replies: “only what you take with you”. Tolkien was not the first one to come up with this concept of course, and it can be found in the customs and rituals of many cultures in our world – starting with trans meditation and vision quests, and all the way to psychedelic drugs and near-death experiences. I simply assumed it was an elven-made crystal ball of sorts, i.e., a mystical device that can pierce through time and space, and show the person controlling it the past, present, or future of any place he or she wishes to see.Īt some point later I understood this wasn’t at all the case, and that the mirror represents something far deeper and more complex – a reflection of the consciousness of the person looking at it. The first time I read the book I was too young to understand its true meaning and hidden symbolism. The Mirror of Galadriel is one of my favorite parts in The Lord of the Rings story.
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