英语专业毕业论文on the pipsqueaks in the lord of the rings

1、 烟 台 南 山 学 院 毕 业 论 文 题目: On the pipsqueaks in the Lord of the Rings 姓 名： 所在学院： 外国语学院 所学专业： 英 语 班 级： _2007级英本3班 学 号： _ 指导教师： 完成时间： _ 2011年4月10日 AbstractHero is usually the main character in all kinds of novels; however, this is not always the case, such as the Lord of the Rings written by J.R.R Tolki

2、en. The whole book tells a story that a fellowship which is made by many livings go to destroy a powerful ring and save the world. In the novel, Tolkein preferred pipsqueaks to heroes to complete the tough mission which was supposed to be done by heroes in other works. On most occasions, pipsqueaks

3、played a pivotal role in scenario. Though the number of characters is huge, the pipsqueaks who are the real main characters have some characteristics in common, who are brave, clever, innocent and good to friend. The idea has clearly been showed that the efforts made by pipsqueaks could also be able

4、 to change the world.Key words: J.R.R Tolkien; The Lord Of The Rings; pipsqueaks; character; mission 摘要 英雄总是各种小说的主角，然而，并不是所有作家都选择英雄，正如J.R.R托尔金所著的魔戒。在这部巨著中，托尔金选择了小人物来完成本该由英雄完成的艰巨任务。本文选取J.R.R.托尔金魔戒中的小人物作为研究分析目标，首先介绍了托尔金的创作理念和魔戒的写作背景，然后重点分析书中的小人物。整部书人物众多，但作为真正主角的各种小人物却有着一些共同的性格特点，他们勇敢，机警，重情重义并且天真。托尔金笔下

5、的这些小人物也往往在故事情节的推动上起到了关键的作用。通过对小人物的分析，本文旨在阐述小人物有着足以改变整个世界的力量。 关键词：托尔金；魔戒；小人物；性格；任务 ContentsIntroduction.5Chapter 1 J.JR. Tolkein and The Lord of the Rings.61.1 J.J R Tolkeins Viewpoint.61.2 The Background of The Lord of the Rings.7Chapter 2 Pipsqueaks in The Lord of the Rings.9 Frodo and Sam.92.2 The

6、 Creature Gollum.11Chapter 3 The Significance of the Pipsqueaks.15 The Function of Pipsqueaks.15 The Cultural Significance of Pipsqueaks.16Conclusion18Bibliography.21Introduction“The Lord of the Rings is one of these things: If you like it, you do; if you dont, then you boo!”(Carpenter, 1978, 226).

7、When The Lord of the Rings was first published in the 1950s, there were many different sounds. People like C.S.Lewis and W.H.Auden heaped enthusiastic praise on this work, and measured it against great writers in history like Edmund Spenser, John Milton and William Blake. However, people like Edmund

8、 Wilson thought this work a juvenile trash, and even refused to allow Tolkein to be a part of English Literature (卢志宇, 2006, 24). After The Lord of the Rings finally got introduced to China, this work has won a great deal of fans that hold the same idea like C.S.Lewis. People are deeply moved by the

9、 wonderful world and great story created in this book. However, the unique angle that Tolkein used to promote Middle-earth might be the most important reason why people fancy The Lord of the Rings. Tolkein doesnt make the great person to be the main character but chooses the pipsqueaks. This differs

10、 from most of the books and certainly gives people a new sense of reading. In this thesis, the study of The Lord of the Rings will be focused on the pipsqueaks and their characteristic during the accomplishment of the difficult mission. In the first part, there will be a brief introduction of the th

11、eoretical premises of this thesis. In the second part, J.J.R Tolkein and The Lord of the Rings are introduced in order to give a mainly sense of the great work and the rough acquaintance of the importance that pipsqueaks play in the polt. In the third part, some of the most significant pipsqueaks ar

12、e discussed. In the last part, there will be a brief conclusion of my study.The pipsqueaks have their insides on the outsides; they are visible souls (Rosebury, 2003, 165). Tolkien sets his story of the ring neither in a dream nor in the actual world but in an imaginary world. The imaginary world ca

13、n be constructed with any inhabitants and events which its maker wishes to introduce. Thus, Tolkein could set these pipsqueaks to be important more easily.Chapter 1 J.JR. Tolkein and The Lord of the Rings1.1 J.J R Tolkeins ViewpointJ.R.R Tolkien, one of the most famous writers of 20th century, was b

14、orn in South Africa, on January 3, 1892. When J.R.R.Tolkien was three, he moved back together with his mother and his younger brother to England, where his parents had lived. His father passed away when he was 4. Tolkiens mother taught him Latin, French, German, drawing, painting, and handwriting. I

15、n 1904, Tolkiens mother Mabel died of diabetes complication on November 14th and then 12-year-old Tolkien and his brother were under guardianship of Father Francis Morgan, a parish priest, who arranged them at an aunts (Clute, 1997, 12). Tolkiens parentless childhood did not stop him from furthering

16、 his education. Tolkien was a true lover of languages, and his interests in classical and medieval languages benefited him not only in terms of his academic study, but also of his own fictional writing meanwhile. He even created languages, which was a remarkable reflection of his creativity. He had

17、got unparalleled aptitude in medieval English languages and comparative philology which shaped much of his rest life. He won First Class Honors in English Language and literature from Oxford in 1915, in which he also joined the British Army. Three months later, he went to France fighting World War I

18、 (Croft, 2004, 34). However, he got ill in the war and spent much time in hospital, during which he began to write a great number of the myths and legends of the Middle-earth which was published as The Silmarillion later, and for the rest of his life he continued to expand the“sub-creation”into a co

19、nscious mythology for England. He then returned home on November, 1916. He even had created languages. Because of his language talent, he was a staff of The Oxford English Dictionary (1918), and got a teaching position as Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford in 1945. Before

20、that, Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford (Stimpson, 1969, 57). The Background of The Lord of the RingsThe three-volume novel The Lord of the Rings is regarded as the first genuinely modern heroic fantasy: it told an epic story which was put in the world he invented

21、 known as the Middle-earth. Tolkien first wrote the Hobbit, a bed-telling-story for children, in which he introduced the Middle-earth. In 1937, The Hobbit was published on September 21th. Because of the good selling, the publishers, Allen & Unwin asked more of the hobbit story. Therefore, Tolkein be

22、gan to write his masterpiece “the Lord of the Rings” to continue the story.The Middle Earth has its own histories and its own peoples, and even its own maps. In this world, many different races exist: hobbits, elves, dwarves, wizards, orcs and human beings. Each of the races has got their own distin

23、ct physical and moral traits: hobbits are short and got much passion in living. They love beer, tobacco and living with friends. Elves are tall, slim and elegant who can use different language and are skillful at bows. Dwarves are small and good builders who sometimes can be a little greedy but loya

24、l to friends. Wizards possess great magic power and great wisdom. Orcs are the botton men of the Dark Lord and represent darkness. Men are the youngest race of Middle-earth (Nitzsche, 1979, 189).The story begins with a powerful ring which made by Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, who forges seventeen

25、 rings and gives them as a gift respectively to the rulers of different races in Middle Earth, the Elven-kings, the Dwarf-lords and the Mortal Men (human kings). Sauron secretly forges One Ring in “Cracks of Doom” for himself, and the One Ring is King of the rings, which is more powerful. The ring c

26、an make the bearer invisible, and slowly take the heart of the bearer into darkness if his mind is not strong enough. With its power, Sauron is able to consolidate his controlling and makes the Middle-earth to be his slave. His evil makes the allies of the Middle-earth rise up against him, and in th

27、e battle in Mordor, Sauron fights the army of allies carrying his ring. A human king is killed but his son, Isildur, picks up the kings broken sword and cuts down Saurons fingers which carried the ring. Isildur gets the ring and years later, he is murdered and the ring is lost in a river. Three cent

28、uries later Smeagol, a hobbit gets it by killing his cousin who discovers it. The ring has long been in the possession of Smeagol. He is cursed and completely controlled by the ring. Years later, Smeagol becomes Gollum under the influence of the ring. Another hundreds of years later, a hobbit Bilbo

29、by chance finds the ring and gets it from the hideous and wretched Gollum. Then, Bilbo gives the ring to his nephew Frodo Baggins, who is the center of the story and knows nothing about the ring. A wizard, Gandalf, who is a close friend of Bilbo recognized the ring, then warns Frodo to leave his hom

30、etown Shire and keep it far away from the hands of Sauron. With the help of Aragon, the lawful heir of Isildur, Frodo manages to get to Rivendell, the land belongs to Elf. Later on, on a secret council holds by the kings of Middle-earth, it is decided that the ring must be destroyed at the Cracks of

31、 Doom, where it is forged. Then the fellowship of the ring is established: Frodo and his three friends Sam, Pippin and Merry, two men, Boromor and Aragorn, one dwarf, Gimli, one elf, Legolas and the wizard, Gandalf, as the leader of the fellowship. Frodo is willing to be the bearer and then the team

32、 sets out to destroy the ring. Finally, Frodo and his gardener Sam come over immense difficulties, reach the Cracks of Doom. However, Frodo is enthralled by the ring and refuses to destroy it. Gollum comes and fights with Frodo to get the ring. At last, Gollum falls into the magma with his precioust

33、he ring. Chapter 2 Pipsqueaks in The Lord of the Rings2.1 Frodo and SamFor Frodo, there never seemed much hope of success. Carrying the burden, Frodo goes through enchanted and dangerous territories to no mans land and the undiscovered country, and he is called upon to offer himself up for sacrifice

34、. Unlike Aragorn, who was born of royal origins, Frodos heroic quality was formed gradually. During the journey to destroy the Ring, Frodo undergoes the gradual maturation under the stress (施志媛, 2005, 17). On the long and difficult way Frodo understands that he has to give everything up so that othe

35、rs may have it. At the time when asked to carry out the delivery of the Ring to Rivendell, Frodo and Sam, one of the common hobbits, who fancy eating, smoking, giving presents to each other, and most importantly, living a peaceful life, they are forced to take the ring. After he arrives at Rivendell

36、, the hard adventure makes Frodo grow sufficiently in heroic stature on his own and learn enough about himself and the world, so that he will be able to make his fateful decision at the Council of Elrond to bear the ring to Cracks of Doom. So at that time, Frodos commonness made him one of the norma

37、l livings before he transforms into a hero. Hero is supposed to do something the common cannot. Frodo tries to go on the journey alone, after he knows exactly how dangerous it will be. It is exactly the sign of Frodos becoming a hero. He also learns self-reliance while traveling from his home to Riv

38、endell without any help from Gandalf. Surely he takes the possible loss of his other fellowship members into account, so that his moving alone is more or less on the consideration to protect other members of the fellowship. Frodo carries the burden, however, the quest makes him increasingly“noble”:

39、his power increased, and the numinous aura and magic of the heroic archetype increasingly adhered to him. He becomes the bearer of magic light into the perilous realms, and slowly acquires wisdom and nobility, and then becomes a real hero. It is the weakest and least clever one who as everybody woul

40、d judge, turns out to be the hero and succeeds at last when the betters failed. The success of ruining the ring is not due to Frodos own powers, but to the elves, magicians and the friends who helps him. Sam Gamgee is just one of the indispensable friends in his journey. There is no doubt that Frodo

41、s loyal gardener Sam is the No.2 hero next to Frodo. We can find out that if we take a close look at the process of the accomplishment of the mission. Though Frodo is already prepared to finish the quest on his own, he is not able to. Sam, the loyal gardener, accompanies Frodo to the end, though he

42、knows what would be waiting for him ahead. When Frodo tries to leave the fellowship and goes to finish the mission by himself, Sam immediately follows after him. He even has drowed in the river because Frodo refuses to take Sam onto the boat that is used to go on the journey. No matter how difficult

43、 the journey will be, Sam has made the decision to accompany Frodo although he may lose his life. Here we can see that Sam has changed into a hero from a common living being. From this time on, Frodo and Sam can be strictly regarded as true heroes.Speaking of the might and capability, Frodo is far w

44、eaker than each of the rest, but he is the one because of his commonness. In plain words, people with great power desire nothing but more power until it is too terrible to control (Kelleghan, 2002, 244). Sauron is an extreme example, which will be the model for Isildur, Gandalf, Aragorn, and Galadri

45、el, if they keep the ring. That is why Frodo fell in the last minute, for he intended to keep the ring forever. The moment he realizes that he should let the ring destroyed, he knows that his deeds come to an end. He is no more the hero who took the thing no one other than Sauron ever dared to. Mayb

46、e the ring does corrupt him as Tolkiens telling in the story, yet we see Frodo “the hero” also had his Achilles heel. When Frodo stepped out of the shadow of the ring that was unmade in the flame of Mount Doom, he said to Sam: “Well, this is the end, Sam Gamgee”, and became“himself again”, “the dear

47、 master of the sweet days in the Shire”, which is a symbol of Frodos being Sam again (Hunter, 1989, 103). Another figure that makes Frodo and Sam become the main characters is the unbreakable friendship between them. Along with Sam, Frodo goes forward steadily. The friends encourage each other in th

48、e hopeless mission. Even in the hardest times, Frodo still keeps the belief with the help of Sam. At the edge of desperation and despair, Sam fights his own battle with despair and gives Frodo the courage to resist the temptation of the ring. Even when he is misunderstood by Frodo because Gollum has

49、 estranged them, he still follows Frodo and saves his life. Realizing that all he can do is to accompany Frodo to the Crack of Doom and dies with him there, he fights the temptation to abandon the mission for he knows that Frodo was suffering the ring, and without his long-lasting support Frodo cann

50、ot complete the mission. It is Sam, from the very beginning to end that remains his identity intact. It is also Sam, a hobbit, a simple disciple of hero, a common representative of the common livings in Middle-earth that is fearless to terror and death. Even when he thought Frodo was killed by Shelo

51、b, the evil creature that Sauron made, his naive mind still told him to finish the mission to destroy the ring. Here we can see that Sams transformation of becoming a hero had been completed.2.2 The creature GollumIn this whole book, one figure has made everyone see clearly how powerful the ring is.

52、 That is Gollum. Gollum first appears in The Hobbit as a kind of hobbit with the name of Smeagol. The desire for the Ring moves him to kill his cousin who finds it by accident. He gets it and regards it as his “precious.” Gollum treasures the ring for a long time till Bilbo steals the ring from him,

53、 then he begins his long quest to haunt the ring by tailing Frodo through the whole journey. Gollum has a long life for keeping the ring, however, he is controlled by the power of the ring and is debased to a froglike, emaciated, underground creature of primitive cunning and instinct (Manlove, 1999,

54、 251). As time goes on, Smeagols weak mind is fully taken by the ring and he gets longevity which not belongs to hobbits. Because of long time hide, Smeagol becomes a story which only a little intellectual man in Middle-earth knows. Slowly, the effect of the ring shows, Smeagol forgets who he is and

55、 where he comes from, all in his life is the precious ring. Half of his mind is nave and kind, while the other half is evil and dark. He has lived hundreds of years, and already forgets the taste of food and the smell of flowers, even his appearance has changed into an horror look which can hardly b

56、e recognized as a hobbit. He has totally become the creature Gollum. In The Lord of the Rings, Gollum is probably the most complex character and his most obvious characteristic is greed for treasure. Gollum has been transformed by his desire for the ring into a creeping thing. When Frodo begins the

57、journey to destroy the ring, his lust for the ring has kept him on Frodos trail as the fellowship of the ring entered Moria, crossed the Emyn Muil, and tries to get his “precious” again. On the road to destroy the ring, Gollum has clearly shown his split personality. Gollum calls himself “us” and he always talks to himself. In fact, Gollum himself is a “double”Gollum and his alter ego, Smeagol. The “double” Gollum and Smagol is the result