Iurkmaster

My final reflections on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings; The Two Towers are very positive. The novel was masterfully put together and really sucked me into the fantasy being portrayed seamlessly through Tolkien’s writing style. This book is one of my top choices for anyone who wants a book they can really delve into. To me though, this novel is more than just a finely put together work of literature. To me, the underlying messages and themes that Tolkien puts into his work enhance the read to so much more than just a good story. Some of his refrences to religion and social structure are so well put into the story, the reader won’t even pick up on them unless seraching for them. Tolkien once said that he wrote his stories so that readers can interpret the book as they choose, mixing and matching whatever themes and refrences they seem fit. That, to me, is what makes this book so great. This book both inspired me and forced me to take a look at how I was living my life at the time, and to do something about it. One of the reoccuring themes of the novel is that one does not have to be extraordinary to do extraordinary things, which in the story is the Hobbits; Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin all being able to accomplish great things, despite their small stature and reputation. Overall, The Lord of the Ring; The Two Towers is a wonderful book, that i recommend anyone to read it. Sorry about not having a video reflection, i couldn’t get my hands on a recorder…

“It’s the job that’s never started takes longest to finish.”-Good Tolkien quote that describes this book report

This chapter left off were the previous one ended, right when Shelob started to attack the hobbits. In the heat of battle against the spider, Frodo is stung in the back, which puts him into a comatose state of being. This enrages Sam and gives him the courage to battle the spider. He stabs it in the eye temporarily blinding it so that he can get ahold of the situation. Shelob then tries to smash Sam with her stomach, unsuccessfully though, because she lands on Sam’s sword. With Shelob gone, Sam starts to come to Frodo’s aid, but hears the voices of some Orcs coming around the corner. Sensing no other option besides getting caught, Sam takes The Ring from Frodo and puts it on, instantly becoming invisible. The Orcs take Frodo’s body, knowing that he’s still alive, into their fortress. Sam has saved The Ring, but lost his friend.

This chapter begins as Frodo Sam, and Gollum, who was allowed to stay, make it to the top of Cirith Ungol. There lies an entrance to a cave that Gollum says is the way into Mordor. Having to trust Gollum as their only guide, the Hobbits go into the cave. While inside the pitch-black cave, Gollum strays away from the Hobbits and disappears, leaving Frodo and Sam to navigate the cave by themselves. After hearing some noises, Frodo whips out this light given to him by Galadriel, which illuminates the cave, only to show a man eating spider in front of them. Shelob, the spider’s name, is afraid of the light so Frodo and Sam are able to get within view of the exit. Only steps away from exit, Sam spots Orcs and decides to put away the light. As soon as the light went out, Shelob started attacking the Hobbits. 

While staring at a statue of a headless King of men, now vandalized by Orc, Gollum urges them to continue onward, stressing to them that time is of the essence. So they keep going until they spot The Tower of the Moon home of Lord of the Nazgul, to which they stop and observe in awe. All of a sudden a thunderous sound is heard, and the gates of the tower begin to open. Out of the gates appears a massive army of Orc, led by the lord of the Nazgul himself. While the army marches by, Frodo has an uncontrollable urge to put on the Ring, which attracts the attention of the Ring wraith, who scours the area for them. Not being able to find the Hobbits, he and his army continue their march. So the Frodo, Sam, and Gollum began the hike of the stairs of Cirith Ungol, a staircase built almost vertically into a mountainside. One night Sam accuses Gollum of “sneaking” and Gollum  gets extremely mad at Sam threatening to kill him. Frodo steps in and says that Gollum has been a help but is relieved of service.

This chapter begins with The hobbits and Gollum continuing on with their journey to Mt. Doom. Faramir gave the group food and walking sticks, but still decided to blindfold them as they exited the hideout. While Frodo and Sam were sleeping Gollum wanders off to somewhere, Sam is suspicious but Frodo still thinks they need Gollum. Days later Gollum reappears, urging them to follow him to this path he has discovered. This place, The Cross-roads, is were Gollum leads them.

The next day morning, Frodo and Sam are awakened early by Faramir to come check something out. As they approach a pool of water, they notice that Gollum is at the banks searching for fish. Faramir asks Frodo if they should kill Gollum, which Frodo firmly says no to. Even though Frodo begs Faramir to do nothing about the creature, he and his men capture Gollum. Faramir tries to interrogate Gollum, which is unsuccessful, but Faramir still allows Gollum to stay with the company, under the stipulation that he is Frodo’s servant. Later Faramir tells Frodo that the way he’s going to Mordor is very dangerous and will only lead to his death, something that Gollum is planning on.