As far as I understand, Professor Tolkien objected to the idea of LOTR as an allegory because he thought it implied a nice little moralistic tale that (coincidentally) wasn't strictly true. He considered LOTR true in all of the ways that truly matter, even if it wasn't factual. He also didn't like how symbolism and allegory can be stretched beyond reason and break down at some point, and I'm not sure he thought the underlying truth he was trying to get at ever did that. He also objected when anything labeled an allegory was generally ignored as a piece of literature. He insisted, however, that there must be an underlying kernal of truth in stories.
In that sense, the Ring could hint at many different things. For me, the Ring brought to mind the idea of temptation, the lure of evil, and solutions to problems that seem easy but are wrong. And the problems of power, especially absolute power. We would indeed have to grow incorruptible to wield power well.
[ November 27, 2001: Message edited by: lamarquise ]
|