distortions in relationships in LOTR

[Lyta_Underhill]

Yes, it's horrible. I read an article in which some people psycho-analyzed the characters of the Winnie the Pooh books, and they said that some of them were gay.... I mean, come on people, it's a kid's story!

Alas, Galadrie1, you have put your finger on a modernistic trend in literary, psychological, and every other kind of criticism out there today. I don't know much about it, but it is commonly referred to as "Queer Theory," and has been applied to just about every piece of literature known now. I believe it is about a decade or so old now. After I re-read "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," my husband told me about a literary critical article in the Queer Theory vein called, "Come Back to de raft, Huck honey," about the "relationship" implied between Huck and Jim. It is everywhere, and I just think of it as yet another way to turn things over from another point of view. I think criticism is like a poll: both can be used to prove absolutely any point the analyst wishes to make. I, personally, choose to see Frodo and Sam's relationship as a deep friendship in the style of those formed in the trenches of WWI, but with other dimensions to it as well. As Lord of Angmar said, the relationship is more complex than can be conveyed in such a short time in film, or in a short, reductive critical article, for that matter.

Cheers,
Lyta