Are you a better person?

[Carlas]

Has reading LOTR made me a better person? I don't think reading something can make you a better person. It is up to the person to make themselves better, even though the reading of a certain book may have helped them want to be better, only they can change themselves.

For me personally though, LOTR has helped me look on the world around me differently and see that even when life seems to be at it's worse, it can get better. But I did not read the books to help change me or make me a better person, I read them so I could lose myself in another world. When life gets crazy, Middle-Earth is my escape.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

No. Actually, reading the Lord of the Rings made me worse.

Seriously ... let's see ... in grade school and middle school I was an A+ student. Then in 9th grade I read the Lord of the Rings, and in high school and college I was a lazy, chronically bored, always sleeping mess of a C student.

And to top it off, I spent my waking hours in school drawing characters from the Lord of the Rings.

The only class I ever had a 100 average in was Trilogy ... a class where we read the Lord of the Rings.

And also, for four years I never felt the need to read anything non-Tolkien. That can't be good for expanding my horizons, I'm sure I missed out on loads of good reads, and I KNOW I missed out on a lot of reading for classes I could have been doing, but wasn't, because if I was going to read anything, it had to be LOTR.

On the bright side, some of the topics on this forum helped teach me good debate skills for college, and through all that drawing, I got better at everything from drawing horses to human musculature, all sorts of texture and shadow, and architecture and weapons.

Which is good, I suppose.

That's not to say the Lord of the Rings isn't the greatest book ever written ... it's a thrill ride, with some of the best writing ever, especially the suggestive parts Tolkien stuck in between all the great descriptive parts. The Father of Modern Myth.

Anyway, I'm actually a worse person. But I'm a better artist ... so there's some good that came of this.

[Orophin]

Well. like was said before me, I have been guilty is slacking off in other areas do to my Tolkien fasination *cough* But LOTR teaches a lot of good stuff. I like to think that it has made me e better person. You could live your life by the values of some of the main characters....

[Assasin]

I think watching Sam and Legolas and how loyal they are makes me want to be like them. I think I am a better person. I am more quiet, and listen more to other people. And I notice a lot more things. (Not that that has to do anything with being a better person.)

[yavanna II]

wELL, the LOTR changed my life in this: I tried to study English further, then I became obssessed with it, and eventually ended up researching on the Net some Olde English.

Now I'm serious: after reading the LOTR I became more studious, for I heard some older geeks saying it's an allegory of Britain, and all that stuff. I also ended up trying to be a better Roman Catholic, which, sadly, has been disrupted because of that Da Vinci Code...

I don't know why, but after learning that the author of my fave books was a devout Roman Catholic, I have desired to deepen my faith... and I'm reviving it now.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by yavanna II

I don't know why, but after learning that the author of my fave books was a devout Roman Catholic, I have desired to deepen my faith... and I'm reviving it now.

That's quite a significant influence! I think for me LotR had a slightly opposite effect in the end. I would have identified myself as a definite Christian until I was about 15, but from reading LotR I was diverted onto reading more about the 'old' religions, and the more I read, the more I realised I was on the wrong path (not wrong per se, just wrong for me, you understand).

But who are these "older geeks" you speak of, yavanna II? I am intrigued by the idea of them. Are they wizened spectacle-wearing folk clutching circuit boards instead of the mythic swords they desire? Do they cling to their original Star Wars toys as though they were ancient relics? Or hark back to the early days of the Space Invader machine with a misty fondness about their eyes? Am I an "older geek" too? Halfway to the great fan convention in the sky...

[yavanna II]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

But who are these "older geeks" you speak of, yavanna II? I am intrigued by the idea of them. Are they wizened spectacle-wearing folk clutching circuit boards instead of the mythic swords they desire? Do they cling to their original Star Wars toys as though they were ancient relics? Or hark back to the early days of the Space Invader machine with a misty fondness about their eyes? Am I an "older geek" too? Halfway to the great fan convention in the sky...

Maybe... depends on the difference on our ages... I'm 15... but it doesn't mean you're an "older geek" just because you treasure your dad's Star Wars relic... I'd classify that as just "geek".

Actually the "o.g."s I was referring to were my mentors... my forty-something Chem teacher is one... he used to ramble on about how cute Legolas was in the movie and how he loved rereading the Sil... another is my great DAD... who bought me all the books I have desired [and some I really didn't ask for...]

They were the ones who told me JRRT was a Catholic... and they were the ones who gave me a really tough scolding after learning I bought a Da Vinci Code , rambling on about how a nice Catholic girl who practically grew up in a Cath. school ended up reading that.......

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

That's quite a significant influence! I think for me LotR had a slightly opposite effect in the end. I would have identified myself as a definite Christian until I was about 15, but from reading LotR I was diverted onto reading more about the 'old' religions, and the more I read, the more I realised I was on the wrong path (not wrong per se, just wrong for me, you understand).

That's quite the statement of Tolkien's influence, Lal. I really ought to direct Mr. Underhill's attention to it, for his interest in the thread LOTR and your Weltanschauung , which has a slightly different take than Fordim's question here.