Lord of the Rings

The nature of evil displayed in The Lord of The Rings Trilogy is a topic which is directly and indirectly displayed. From the opening of the film we are introduced with what is good and what is evil and by the end of the first film we are completely familiar with what represents good and what represents evil. Right after the film begins we are told what the forces of good will be dealing with and the exact form that evil will take on and how it was birthed. We know that the ring is almost the sacramental of what is evil because it was created in the name of evil to serve Melkor.

Once the rings were created they began to poison the hearts of various species. Evil took on the indirect form of greed and won over soldiers of evil by slowly corrupting them with their desire for personal gain. Evil was able to flourish not by force but by its attractiveness and the ability it had to lure the hearts of good. It was here that Melkor and Sauron could begin setting up their army to take over good. They made their first run to take over good and failed when the ring was taken in battle from Melkor. Upon the victory over evil the ring could not be destroyed because once again the heart of a good man was corrupted by the ring, so evil persisted on.

Evil exists on the basis of a few factors in the film. The heads, obviously, are Melkor and Sauron. There are other head figures which carry out the military needs of evil. Their status came about by a turning away from a once good nature and embracing the dark side full on. Characters such as Sarumon represent a gradual turning away from good and embracing the lure of evil. One thing is for sure is that evil is something that is intangible in the film. It cannot be directly related to a single person. It has a head but it is kept alive by the choices of the creatures of middle-earth. Mostly, it is shown in the corruption of a personЎЇs soul due to greed and desire for personal fame and well-being.

The way in which evil must be defeated has to be a team effort as we see in the films. The people of middle-earth must unite under one cause and make a turn towards good. Slowly, the creatures of middle-earth begin to realize that everyone is better off when the world is dominated by good whereas only a few benefit from evil. On the surface one would see that the battle between good and evil is a physical battle because that is how it is represented in the movie. However, if we are to look deeper we realize that just as people were poisoned by evil in the beginning the desire to good becomes almost an anti-venom in the end. All of the different species of middle-earth become selfless and eager to serve others in the battle against evil. Greed no longer occupies the hearts of the people. They are now one force of good prepared to conquer evil.

TolkienЎЇs Catholic upbringing is quite evident in his depiction of evil in the film. He establishes a head of evil in Melkor who is made specifically to mirror Satan. Melkor was basically the equivalent of an Archangel who fell into the clutches of evil and created the dark side. Melkor made turning to the dark side attractive by establishing different types of lures which is exactly the same as sin. The people of middle-earth had the daily struggle to avoid temptation and not sin just as we do. We also see that although evil can be much more intimidating good is ultimately the stronger side which is also true in Catholicism.

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The temptation of the ring was a constant presence in the film. It was almost a nagging that made even the smallest of tasks much more difficult than they normally would have been. One of the most important points in the movie is when the fellowship of the ring was created because it aided those involved in the mission to remember their oath to the demise of the ring. The strong will of the men aiding Frodo was something that one ended