Nix of Mirkwood
Bree
I know TRR Tolkien was always dead against allegorical interpretations of his work, but in my defense, I read this one long before I learned of his opinion on the matter. It seems to me that there are just too many metaphores in "Leaf by Niggle" to be read as just another story; one has to admit it is far too abstract. Tolkien himself admitted that it reflected in a away his own struggle with his work on LotR.
...So! I would love to hear some interpretations of this curious yet heart-warming tale.
As to my own, when I first read this story, I was so confused I couldn't make much of it, but then the ending got me thinking about death and what comes after. I may be way off here, but bare with me; it makes sense in my head.
Niggle is so preoccupied with finishing his painting that he puts off everything else and devotes his life to his work. And yet, he is never given the chance to really immerse himself in his work. He is constantly being interrupted by his annoying neighbour and other nuisances. And then he has to go on the trip that he always knew he would have to take but that he wasn't really ready to take yet. At first, this seemed normal to me and I didn't give it much thought, although it did bother me that he was being forced to leave. This is probably what first got me reading between the lines. And then I noticed that he actually leaves as soon as he recovers from his illness. So it occured to me that maybe he doesn't recover at all, maybe his illness disappears because he dies in the course of it. So here he is in a strange place being subjected to all sorts of horrible trials and then finally he is releaved from them and he gets to go to this perfect place where he feels at peace, and can finally do what he wants to do most in the world: finish his painting. In the garden of his imagintation he meets his neighbour, who has also been ill, and they work together to finish the painting. And it occured to me here that his neighbour is also dead. After the painting is completed, Niggle moves on and Parish, the neighbour, stays behind and waits for his ill wife to join him, which she eventually does... This again evokes the idea of death.
Now this whole period of trials that Niggle undergoes could possibly be, as it is implied in the story, his atonement for having been unneighbourly and unkind to Parish and his sick wife. He finally learns what it is to be a good friend and to live in a community when he and Parish finish the painting together, and finally finds peace and is able to move on. I may be getting sidetracked here, and my interpretation may be slightly too moralistic for Tolkien's taste, but I could go as far as to say that Niggle could never find peace of mind and true fulfillment and satisfaction (represented by the completion of his work) until he was a better human being.
Phew!
Any thoughts anyone?
...So! I would love to hear some interpretations of this curious yet heart-warming tale.
As to my own, when I first read this story, I was so confused I couldn't make much of it, but then the ending got me thinking about death and what comes after. I may be way off here, but bare with me; it makes sense in my head.
Niggle is so preoccupied with finishing his painting that he puts off everything else and devotes his life to his work. And yet, he is never given the chance to really immerse himself in his work. He is constantly being interrupted by his annoying neighbour and other nuisances. And then he has to go on the trip that he always knew he would have to take but that he wasn't really ready to take yet. At first, this seemed normal to me and I didn't give it much thought, although it did bother me that he was being forced to leave. This is probably what first got me reading between the lines. And then I noticed that he actually leaves as soon as he recovers from his illness. So it occured to me that maybe he doesn't recover at all, maybe his illness disappears because he dies in the course of it. So here he is in a strange place being subjected to all sorts of horrible trials and then finally he is releaved from them and he gets to go to this perfect place where he feels at peace, and can finally do what he wants to do most in the world: finish his painting. In the garden of his imagintation he meets his neighbour, who has also been ill, and they work together to finish the painting. And it occured to me here that his neighbour is also dead. After the painting is completed, Niggle moves on and Parish, the neighbour, stays behind and waits for his ill wife to join him, which she eventually does... This again evokes the idea of death.
Now this whole period of trials that Niggle undergoes could possibly be, as it is implied in the story, his atonement for having been unneighbourly and unkind to Parish and his sick wife. He finally learns what it is to be a good friend and to live in a community when he and Parish finish the painting together, and finally finds peace and is able to move on. I may be getting sidetracked here, and my interpretation may be slightly too moralistic for Tolkien's taste, but I could go as far as to say that Niggle could never find peace of mind and true fulfillment and satisfaction (represented by the completion of his work) until he was a better human being.
Phew!
Any thoughts anyone?
