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Yet, wasn't that sense of belonging to a community a thing of the past even for Tolkien & his readers? I know what's depicted is further away from us in time than it was for Tolkien & his readers, because nothing stays the same - even nostalgia isn't what it was - but Tolkien is mourning what had been, & I think that that sense of 'loss' will remain accessible to readers for as long as the book is read, because its not what is lost, in the sense of specific things, or a particular way of life, its the sense of having lost something - innocence, loved ones, whatever - which will speak to readers. We all lose something, & mourn its passing, so the Shire will become a symbol of that even when it has passed out of living memory.
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