I finished watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Having never read the books or seen the movies before this week, I believe I was able to approach the themes and symbolism in a fresh manner. But my compartmentalizing nature made this a difficult task. All throughout the films my brain was trying to associate specific characters with Christ (like Aslan in Narnia). These associations, however, broke down whenever pushed too far in any direction.
In some ways Aragorn (in the 3rd movie mostly) was much like Christ the King. Gandalf reflected the prophetic and miraculous aspect of Christ at various times. But perhaps no character, to me, better illustrated Christ than Frodo. He was a mere hobbit and Christ became a mere man. He was tempted by the power of the ring and Christ was offered power by the devil. Frodo was, perhaps, the only individual in the movie able to make the journey without giving in to selfish ambition. And both he and Christ completed their journey and then departed.
The other question that came to mind as I completed the trilogy was, "Who am I in the Lord of the Rings?" I believe that I (and we) are most like Sam. We are called to aid the work of Christ in this world. We are called to carry the cross (as Sam carried Frodo). We are left with some pages to fill in the great narrative of Christ's work.
These are probably very obvious (or totally off-base!) connections, but those are my thoughts after watching The Lord of the Rings for the very first time.
No comments:
Post a Comment