It could just be to ground the novel for his readers too. Most people don't enjoy reading something if they feel completely at a lost as to how to picture/see things. By having the different cultures 'resemble' (sorry, but I can't think of a better phrase than that or 'harken back to') cultures that everyone is already familiar with the reader is able to focus more on the story without worrying about what everything is 'supposed' to look like. By giving the cultures 'familiar faces' it guarantees that the more important parts of the novel (the story, the history, the characters, the good vs. evil...what-have-you) aren't ignored by a reader trying to make sense of the world.
The other thing to consider, and it kind of works in with the idea of racism and considering other races to be 'weird', is that the Lord of the Rings was written as if it
could be a history/mythological-history of Europe and that any history of Europe would need to include expanations for the hints of other cultures they (the common people) would have. This is especially true if you have got a Roman-like civilization that expands across many cultures and trades information/goods between them.
And finally...
Originally posted by
Luinalatawen
Quote:
|
If each ME race is truly representative of a race in our culture, what does that say about the sides of good and evil in the war of the ring?
|
Or the sides of 'good and evil' in our own world? No?