The novel review of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Review text

Novel review of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring This review will discuss my response to a literary work which is entitled The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring that is written by Professor JRR Tolkien. This novel is the first volume of the lord of the ring trilogy. It consists of 10 chapters and was first published in 1954. This novel is about a young hobbit, Frodo Baggins, and his eight journey companions to Mordor in order to destroy a ring. This novel will be reviewed regarding several narrative aspects; the plot, setting, point of view, and characters of the story. First, The Fellowship of the Ring novel has a linear plot. Linear plot encompasses four sequential levels that are exposition, complication, climax and resolution (for details, see: . In the beginning of the story, the author tells the history of the ring, which is called the exposition in which the characters and conflict are introduced. Then, the author sequences the complication where the problem is developed (for further details see : is when the fellowship of the ring is established and begins the journey.

The climax of the story where the point of the highest tension (Amirulloh, 2011) is when Boromir tries to seize the ring from Frodo and causes Frodo feels hesitant to bring the ring. Then, the resolution where the conflict is resolved (Amirulloh, 2011) is when Frodo leaves the fellowship and continues alone, though Sam soon finds out and accompanies him, heads towards the evil land of Mordor. The author incredibly creates the plot progression of each stage which will draw the readers into the plot of story. Second, the fellowship of the rings has specific setting. The setting of a story is the time and place where the events unfold (for details, see: and it ranges from very specific to very broad times and places and can serve different purposes in different stories (Amirulloh, 2011). This story reveals the time span and pace of its passing clearly so the readers will not confuse with the time progression. The author also creates a fictional universe which is called Middle-earth in detail. Every place in this story is amazingly delineated.

For example, Mordor, the evil land, is described as a dark and gloomy place where the specter of evil is on the throne. The contrast place of Mordor is Rivendel, the land of elves, is a tranquil and sparkling place which can compose everybody. I believe it will lead the readers to have different feeling in every place. Third, the fellowship of the rings is narrated in the third person omniscient point of view. The third person omniscient point of view means that the narrator is an all-knowing outsider who can enter the minds of more than one character (Amirulloh, 2013). This novel mainly narrates Frodo’s mind and heart, but occasionally it focuses on the point of view of other characters. The third person omniscient point of view, as stated by Gardner in http://ingridsnotes.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/five-advantages-of-third-person-omniscient-pov/, leads the reader to feel an immediate sense of what the characters feel as do. It may make the readers curious and want to keep reading. Fourth, the fellowship of the ring reveals vivid characters.

It may tickle the readers’ imagination about dwarves, elves, hobbits, wizards, and other mythical beings (see: . Types of character include flat and round characters (Shapiro & Beum, 1978, cited in . The flat characters are characters that are not psychologically complex and thus easily accessible to the readers (Amirulloh, 2011). In this story, the flat characters are Sam and Gandalf who are the stereotypes of kindhearted characters. While the round characters that are complex and multi-dimensional, inconsistent and unpredictable, hard to summarize and understand, and display internal conflicts found in real people (Amirulloh, 2011) are Frodo, Aragorn, and Boromir. According to Propp (see: http://www.slideshare.net/wmorris/narrative-theories , the character in narrative story is called stock characters including the hero, the villain, and the helper. The hero in this novel, a character who seeks something, is Frodo. The villains, characters who block the hero’s mission, are Boromir and the evil lord. While the helpers, characters who assist the hero, are the Frodo’s eight journey companion. I think this novel is a great literature. It is hard to put into words the happiness that can be felt when reading a fantasy novel as good as this.