1) If we really want to be picky, Tolkien was never "South African", because the Union of South Africa wasn't created until 18 years after his birth. He was born in the Orange Free State, which was an independent Boer republic.
2) Given that Tolkien's remit was English Language, it would hardly be surprising that applying "contemporary literary criticism" completely missed the point of his lectures.
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The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.
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