# The World Is Changing



## scotsboyuk (Apr 30, 2005)

Having watched FOTR again this evening (network premier on Channel 4) I was struck by the applicability of the story to our own times. I tend to always imagine the story of LOTR as most closely related to the 1930s and 40s in our own world, but I wondered about the applicability of it today.

Is our world really in the same sort of danger as we faced in the 1930s? Do we really 'stand on a knife edge'?

How relevant are stories of hope and goodness over evil in today's world? Can we still find that same sort of romantic goodness and heroism in today's values? Are we doomed or are we really just giving into hyperbole?


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## Gothmog (Apr 30, 2005)

> Having watched FOTR again this evening (network premier on Channel 4) I was struck by the applicability of the story to our own times. I tend to always imagine the story of LOTR as most closely related to the 1930s and 40s in our own world, but I wondered about the applicability of it today.


The amazing thing about LotR is that the way it was written allows for it applicability to any age. the point is not the age but the battle between Light and Dark, or as others would have it, between Good and Evil.


> Is our world really in the same sort of danger as we faced in the 1930s? Do we really 'stand on a knife edge'?


I would say that while Humans that are involved we will continue to 'stand on a kinife edge'. And not only to stand there but to walk our whole lives along it.


> How relevant are stories of hope and goodness over evil in today's world? Can we still find that same sort of romantic goodness and heroism in today's values? Are we doomed or are we really just giving into hyperbole?


I think that they are very relevant, now and for many generations into the future. Looking in "Today's Values" is a mistake. You find such goodness and heroism in Personal Values only, Aragorn did not conform to any view of "Today's Values" either for Middle-earth or for Tolkien's time. These personal values will hold true no matter how "Today's Values" may be represented. To really get an answer to this question it would, in my opinion, be better to ask - How well can you relate to the goodness and heroism of the LotR?


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