Top Retellings of Classic Tales
Linh Nguyen asked this question about The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3):
I still don't know why Frodo had to leave Sam, Merry and Pippin (the ending) ?!
Peter Tolkien is not one for "they all lived happily ever after." Consider The Hobbit--Thorin dies. The story of Beren and Luthien--after many sorrows and t…moreTolkien is not one for "they all lived happily ever after." Consider The Hobbit--Thorin dies. The story of Beren and Luthien--after many sorrows and trials, ends with the death of Luthien. Even Aragorn and Arwen end with the death of Aragorn, and later, Arwen.
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I'm suggesting that Tolkien end his stories with an air of uncertainty or vagueness, that nothing is perfect in life. Perhaps that is from a mark WWI left on him. The war ended, but the world changed and not for the better. Thus, happy endings are characterized with sorrow.
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So going back to the question, I venture to say that Frodo's departure is a mark of Tolkien as a storyteller.(less)
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The Return of the King
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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