New Style...Why?

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

Wasn't LOTR written after Tolkien's experiences in the War? War can definately change a man, that's not saying Tolkien was crazy after the war, but his feelings could have changed. He went to war thinking it would make the world a better place in the end, and when he returned home, he realized it wasn't so. Depression, lots of destructiong, and loss of lives. Could have changed his view on life, explaining the contrast between the two.

Actually, Tolkien did almost ALL of his writing after the First World War. The Hobbit was written in the 30s, and the Lord of the Rings was written in late 30s and during the 40s. Although the war certainly influenced Tolkien's understanding of what war does, and this shows in the LR, I don't think that Tolkien's war experiences actually had anything to do with The Hobbit, and its differences from the LR. The timing isn't right.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

Actually, Tolkien did almost ALL of his writing after the First World War. The Hobbit was written in the 30s, and the Lord of the Rings was written in late 30s and during the 40s. Although the war certainly influenced Tolkien's understanding of what war does, and this shows in the LR, I don't think that Tolkien's war experiences actually had anything to do with The Hobbit, and its differences from the LR. The timing isn't right.

Certainly his writings pre-war were more 'romantic', & the mythology as such found some its form & philosophical underpinnings as a result of his experiences in the trenches & through the loss of his friends.

I would, however, speculate that only someone who had been through the brutal realities of modern warfare, could have written the account of the Battle of Five Armies as it appears in The Hobbit, with all the cynicism, greed & backbiting involved in its cause & the fact that the 'good guys' only join together when a worse enemy appears. If the Goblins & Wargs hadn't turned up our 'heroes' would probably have slaughtered each other & if the Dwarves had won they would probably have hanged Bilbo as a 'traitor'.

[Formendacil]

Agreed. I'm not saying that World War I (the major war for Tolkien) didn't influence the Hobbit, merely I'm pointing out that it occurred before either work was written, and so cannot be held accountable for the differences in style.

As for World War II, although it occurred during the writing of the Lord of the Rings, I would not hold it accountable either, as it was apparent from a very early stage of the writing of that book (before War broke out or had become truly bad in Britain) that it was destined to be much darker and deeper.

[Mumak o' Harad]

I think that The Lord of the Rings was written under the Hobbits' perspective, and maybe it is, in fact, narrated by the Hobbits; therefore, I think that the books "grow up" with the Hobbits over the course of the story, i.e. from the innocence of the Shire (childish) to the dreads of The War of the Rings/Mount Doom (adult), and the literary style accompanies the Hobbits' development throughout the story.

Have you noticed that the Hobbits are not present only in few passages of the books (like when Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas are on the errand to find Pippin and Merry)?

We have to keep in mind that in the end of the story, even The Shire is totally changed in view of Saruman"Sharky"'s control (not so innocent anymore), and the story only really ends when Sam is safe home: "Well, I'm back!"

In the end I think that Tolkien, being the perfectionist he was, would not have changed styles without a clear purpose.