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quote: Now, once the Ring is destroyed we see a bunch of chapters of "good byes." The new "safe havens," are what used to be the dangerous ones. Places like Minas Tirith, Rohan, Lorien, are now ridding themselves of the danger, and are safe places for Frodo to stay. However, when we hit Bree, Tolkien gives us a curveball, the Shire is corrupt. They leave the safety of Rivendell, Minas Tirith....etc and plunge into the now unsafe Shire. A complete turn around, a 360. quote
I think plotwise the story ends with the destruction of the ring. That's the climax (no wonder they left the scouring of the shire out of the movies).
I think of LOTR more as a chronicle, which doesn't explain the structure fully but gives it a name which might help to grasp it.
There is an interesting interpretation of the scouring of the shire though. If we look at hobbits as people who have little knowledge of the outside world and are only interested in themselves, in their own history, the whole quest could be seen as an awareness of the mind. In hegelian terms (german philosopher): The mind becomes conscious as it travels to Mordor. There it faces its ultimate negation, death. But in order to become selfconscious it has to return to where it came from. Only then it is Geist.
Interesting is also that all the three main characters (Gandalf (Balrog), Aragorn (Path of the Dead) and Frodo (Dead Marshes) overcome dead. (to be born again first you have to die).
This is a bit brief, due to little time, but I had to react.
Great topic indeed!
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