Week Six : Fantasy

This week I read a short work Leaf By Niggle written by J. R. R. Tolkien. I found it incredibly endearing. It touched my heart. It felt as if I was lying in bed with my mother reading me this story; nostalgic, in a way.

Popular fantasy-inspired works, such as The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings have never interested me, though I adore the detailed world building that goes behind fantasy stories. I’m not much of a fantasy loving person, although I deeply enjoyed Leaf by Niggle. It conveyed truths on perspective. Niggle, a painter, lives in a community where art isn't valued.

Niggle adores nature with a passion. He loved leaves and trees so much that it was all he wished to paint. He became obsessive about finishing his masterpiece, a grand tree with each leaf being individual and unique in design within a forested background, but then there was a point where he became so annoyed at all the little inconveniences that plagued his life, inconveniences that were beyond his control. These inconveniences paused his work; work that he found escapism in.

“At any rate, poor Niggle got no pleasure out of life, not what he had been used to call pleasure. He was certainly not amused.” He was constantly encouraged by his neighbors to assist in repairing roofs and caring for the ill, assuring him that he would receive fufuillmet from all of these trials. Well, no. He found almost no joy in any of it. These trials, this journey, that he was forced to partake in only caused him to realize how much he just wanted to pursue painting.

Leaf by Niggle reflects elements of the classic hero’s journey. He shows patterns of detachment from his ego to evolve himself and grow. The short story is an allegory on Tolkien’s real life and the journey of self discovery and significance; the value of one’s work. He communicates how it's a shame that only after death do most people realize that certain works are beautiful.

The in-class movie, The Hobbit (2012) directed by Peter Jackson, was interesting but I don't think I’d want to continue watching it. 

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Here are some other fantasy-inspired readings/shows/movies that I like: Maleficent (2014), and The Chronicles of Narnia (movie series).