The Big Question for Mr. McFarlane's Senior Government Class:

           J.R.R. Tolkien, one of the greatest creative minds of the twentieth century, drastically transformed the literary world of fantasy with his depiction of Middle-earth, a land filled with imagery and creatures never seen before—anywhere. Certainly he borrowed many races from legend and myth, but even those he transformed with his own characterizations and ways of life. The result, then, is a world filled with unique beings, almost wholly distinct in their interactions with each other, themselves, and the environment around them.

            Having read The Lord of the Rings and studied various governmental systems throughout this semester, examine the various classifications of each of Tolkien’s races. How do the peoples and nations of earth compare? Are we a race of greedy, reclusive Dwarves? Isolationistic Ents? Noble but fallen Numenoreans? Totalitarian Orcs? How does humanity—and America, in particular—fit into Middle-earth, and what are the implications of this?