The Hobbit

The Hobbit Response

Bilbo Baggins before his adventure very much represented what Tolkien saw in the rural living of Englishmen around the time when the book was published: Comfortably living, preference for the simple things in life and not much of a concern for what was going on around the time of the nineteen thirties. In Bilbo’s story his life is turned upside down when he is invited by a wizard named Gandalf to undertake a quest to reclaim the dwarfs treasure in the Lonely Mountain guarded by a large dragon named Smaug.

Although reluctant to partake, the arrival of the dwarfs convinces him otherwise. His journey to the Lonely Mountain along with his growth as a person is tested throughout the number of trials that he faces along the way: such as his encounters with spiders, trolls, goblins and eventually Smaug himself. One of the key moments in the story is the “Riddles In The Dark“ chapter where he has to solve a bunch of riddles, which Gollum has set. Though successfully, Bilbo has also unknowingly stolen a prized ring of the creature. When he asks Gollum what he has in his pocket, he inadvertently causes the creature to go mad at the revelation causing him to hate anyone with the name Baggins.

The apex of Bilbo’s growth is when all the events culminate in the battle of the five armies. He witnesses death and destruction but at the same time he gains new found knowledge from his trials and tribulations and is able to go home never forgetting who he was. Though he loses the respect of some of the hobbits, he is a changed person who in contrast to his has more of a zest for life than he did at the start.

Aunt Maria Response

Response to Aunt Maria

Power has often been something of double-edged sword, while it grants us pleasures beyond our wildest dreams. It can also shape the more ugly parts of a person and transform them into something that people can easily despise or fear. This is the case with Diana Wynne Jones book Aunt Maria that centers on themes of Tyranny, Control and Individualism. The story centers around two children “Mig” and her brother Chris who along with their mum go to a mysterious seaside town to visit their Aunt Maria.

Who on the surface seems like a cuddly old aged pensioner of an Aunt, however she is slowly unraveled as a tyrant who wants to stomp out individualism and equality with an iron fist through a convent of witches who turn out to be the real power behind the village. All of the men are blank faced zombies without a will of their own and most of the children of the village are kept in an orphanage. With no families of their own. The society of the village is matrilineal to a fault, they are very much rooted in the beliefs of the traditional gender roles but at the same time, Maria and her convent are destroying lives in order to get what they want.

Aunt Maria’s regime seems somewhat similar to that of Josef Stalin’s. Along with the whole Communist party, Stalin wanted to also get rid of individuality, he was also very power hungry to the point where anyone who disagreed with him ended up dead. Like Stalin, Aunt Maria keeps the village under further control through her convent of elderly women, a secret police whose motivation is to keep people in line.

Behind the fantasy story setting, as well as it’s seemingly child friendly appeal is a story with some socio-political undertones as well as questions behind the empowerment of gender in society.

Kwaidan

Kwaidan Response

Kwaidan is a collection of ghost stories rooted in Japanese folklore and tradition. Each one of the stories represent the way the people of Japan are not only connected with Nature but also the spirits of their ancestors from the feudal times. The spiritual forces represent the workings of nature and how the spirits of ancient times play into the culture of a lot of the people of Japan. There is always the idea that there is a force unknown to certain people. That is always preying on the minds of those who make the wrong choices. Even though at first it seems to be the right choice. In one story, a woodcutter witnesses a spirit murder his mentor and is forced by the spirit to remain silent about what he sees under the threat of death. He then later marries a woman who is the physical embodiment of said spirit.

Like a lot of the people in those stories, we often fear the unknown and sometimes depending on the path we take. Along with the choices big or small, it can come back to bite us. We often forget that ghosts used to one day be people, and that certain spirits are not ones to be crossed. We often like to be scared of ghosts because it makes us remind ourselves that we have to be careful throughout our daily lives. To always be decent towards those even outside our family and to always be respectful. By doing so we can learn to become better people and live a good life.

Let The Right One In Response

The relationship between Vampires and Humans has often been debated as one that while both have contrasting agendas in terms of their co-existence in fiction and how they relate to the natural order of planet earth. They aren’t as different from one another as one might think. Both value companionship and often feel isolated from the people around them because of social inhibitions and different views of the world. In “Let The Right One In” By John Ajvide Lindqvist, the connection between creature and human is examined through the eyes of the two main characters Oskar and Eli. Oskar is a lonely young boy, who is bullied and isolated at school, his parents are divorced and he doesn’t have friends. He is also established with having a fascination with violence and imagines taking bloody vengeance on his tormentors. This in part is what draws Eli to him. Eli herself is also lonely due in part to her being a vampire, as well as having to hide away from the world while her guardian Håkan kills innocents in order to provide her with blood to stay alive.

Although initially wanting to keep her distance from Oskar, circumstances in the course of the story bring them closer. Oskar gives in to his urges to commit violence and ends up maiming one of his tormenters, Eli’s guardian dies after pouring acid on his face and allowing himself to be mercy-killed by Eli herself. As the two form a close kinship, Oskar further becomes isolated from the world and his parents. It all pays off when Eli kills the bullies when they try to drown Oskar under threat of having his eye gouged. After which Oskar and Eli flee for parts unknown with the implication that either Oskar becomes a vampire or fulfills the role that Håkan provided for Eli.

As noted from the opening thesis and statement, Vampires and Humans aren’t as different as one may think. In a sense both species belong to the same condition that makes up society and how everyone perceives each other for better or worse. They each have their own individual vices and flaws, which make up a single person living in the modern world. Ultimately however, both desire companionship and the willingness to be accepted for their individuality and uniqueness. On the subject of Let The Right One In, these topics play a part in how the story about the two main characters commences. It also delves into whether in order to blend in one most conform to one’s idea of survival by viewing the people in the world as nothing more than a flock making their way to be slaughtered. Which in Eli’s case certainly seems true.

Frankenstein

There is always a thought about whether we can truly play with the laws of nature. While it seems like a good practice in theory, actually attempting to create life without thinking of the consequences could only dispel disaster and a disruption in the flow of science and biology. In the story written by Mary Shelley, this is exactly what befalls our protagonist Doctor Victor Frankenstein upon acquiring the knowledge that he puts to use in order to create life. But by creating something inhuman and grotesque, he inadvertently allows this creation to destroy his life and the people he held dear. While Victor is definitely a tragic figure and we do pity him that his life has begun to fall apart from the seams, a vast majority of the conflict does play a lot into his hands. From the start, although he was seemingly innocent as a youth fascinated with Alchemy, he grew into an arrogant, ambitious and narcissistic young man with a disregard for humanity. In a sense because he was the creature’s creator, it was his responsibility to care for the thing he created had he done so he would have prevented the deaths of his younger brother William, his best friend Henry and ultimately his fiancé Elizabeth. In a sense it is a two-sided coin, by rejecting the creature based on its appearance he ultimately paved the way for it to be rejected by society and become shaped by human cruelty rather than that of love or kindness.

The tragedy of the story is very much on Victor Frankenstein as it is on the eponymous monster. The more Victor becomes consumed with disillusionment and vengeance against his creation, the more isolated he becomes from everything around him. The story is very much akin to the Greek myth of Prometheus who was a titan who stole fire from the god of thunder Zeus in order to create life. As punishment, Zeus commissioned Hephaestus to create Pandora the first women who would bring about the troubles to mankind. Zeus also personally punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock. Towards the end of the story, after losing everyone dear to him, Victor chases the Monster all the way to the arctic in an attempt to destroy it where he finally meets the man behind the letters Robert Walton and upon telling his story to Walton dies of his illness.

In conclusion, Frankenstein is very much a classic example of what happens when people tamper with what is unknown to them and what they can’t control without realizing the inherent reproductions of acquiring dangerous knowledge. Victor Frankenstein ultimately created life, but in the end never took responsibility for what he created and it ultimately destroyed his life along with those closest to him. Had he had more of a grasp of the importance of love and humanity, he would have been able to care for the creature and shape it through love and kindness. The overall message is to take responsibility for your actions.