Orwell is an writer I admire greatly but haven't reread for a while, this thread inspired me to do so over Christmas. I am still in the throes of that but a few things have struck me.
Orwell hated extremism of any political colour, he like Tolkien had seen active service - though as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. Like Tolkien he was a child of Empire, though unlike him he returned to his birthplace in Burma (Myanmar) as a cog in the colonial machinery he came to despise. I wonder if this is the reason for one of the most striking similarities, that they are both writers who engage in examining and describing Englishness. This of course may be more striking to me as a Brit than too overseas readers (I never forget my A level tutor recalling teaching in Africa and his class seeing great significance in the grass in "Wuthering Heights" being green.....).
Orwell is more direct in essays such as "
England, your England ( possibly the most memorable piece of writing I have ever read ) while Tolkien develops his mythology for England.
Tolkien famously denied that LOTR was allegorical while Orwell wrote the famous allegories "Animal Farm" but that is probably a superficial observation. There will be more I am sure as I trap the ideas that are currently elusive but one thing struck me when I started looking. I think the emissary of Sauron at the black gates threatens that Frodo may be released when broken byt hte torments of Mordor. At the end of 1984, Winston is not killed immediately by the Party but is released as an example. Whether portrayed allegorically or mythologically, both writers well understood how absolute power works...