Whether it's a short story or a novel or something in-between, what's THE most important thing about any story-do you know?
Well, here it is-
By the end, something important has to change---or there's no story
Makes sense, doesn't it? Intuitively, you know that's true, don't you, just as most people do.
In absolutely every published story, what changes at the end always relates to some value stated early on in the story, either by or about the main character. And that early value statement is always a strong evaluation or description concerning a trait, characteristic, goal, problem, or desire related to the main character. That's what I call the old view. The change at the end I call the new view, which is always a reverse of the old view at the beginning.
With that one principle, you can make sense of the major factors in literally every story ever written and published. And you don't have to bring in a bunch of literary devices to prove your point, either.
However, you should know that there's a major difference between a short story and a long story, or novel. In a short story, the major support of the old view/new view relationship is the description of the main character, often having to do with descriptions of their feelings, thoughts, talk, and actions, though a physical description can be powerfully supportive, too.
But in a novel, the major support of the old view/new view relationship in the story is the use of foils. A foil is a character in a story who serves as a contrast to another character. Often, the contrast is with the main character or one of the other primary characters. And the contrast serves to highlight specific traits of the other character that reinforce the old view/new view relationship. Foils are major factors in novels because they take much longer to develop, and short stories just don't have the space or time to develop them.
Now, J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, The Lord of the Rings, is just bursting at the seams with foils or contrasts between characters, so let's discuss how a few of those foils are used to support the main character and the old view/new view relationship.
First, let's identify the old view strong value statements that are given near the beginning of the story, when Gandalf has a long discussion with Frodo and tells him the true nature of the Ring he has inherited from Bilbo:
Frodo has no pity for Gollum and declares vehemently that Gollum "deserves death."
Frodo strongly disagrees with Gandalf about his having the "strength and heart and wits" to deal with the Ring, and he objects very self-pityingly to being stuck with it.
Frodo wants very much to destroy the Ring, though he'd rather have it destroyed by someone else.
The first two old views get reversed throughout the middle of the story, even before the end: Frodo constantly protects Gollum from others, as he guides Frodo and Sam into Mordor; and Frodo shows fairly consistently that he has the "strength and heart and wits" to deal with Boromir, Gollum, Sam, Faramir, and even Sauron, though he does make a few mistakes.
But when Frodo gets to Mount Doom in Mordor to throw the Ring into the fire and destroy it, he changes his mind and decides to keep the Ring. That is a complete turnaround, a pure reversal of the third old view value statement we identified, above.
Okay, now we're ready to identify contrasting characters, or foils, and show how they relate to the main character and the reversal new view at the end of the story.
Here's a list of six foils or contrasts (out of about forty in the story):
Frodo & Gollum
Frodo & Gandalf
Gandalf & Saruman
Saruman & Denethor
Denethor & Theoden
Faramir & Boromir
Let's examine these contrasts or foils.
Frodo & Gollum - Both are jealous of possessing the ring. But many differences are readily apparent, such as Frodo being concerned for the welfare of others, while Gollum was concerned only for himself and loving only the Ring.
Perhaps the major difference between Frodo and Gollum is that Frodo is intent on destroying the Ring for the sake of all decent beings, while Gollum is intent on obtaining the Ring only for his own delight in possessing it. This difference is crucial for setting up the reversal at Orodruin, the Fire-mountain in Mordor, where Frodo does his turnabout and declares he will not destroy the Ring, which he has been working toward all along.
Fortunately, in another unexpected reversal, Gollum becomes the one to destroy the Ring he loves so much when he accidentally falls into the fires of Mount Doom after stealing the Ring from Frodo.
Frodo & Gandalf - The differences are readily apparent: Frodo is weak and not very wise, while Gandalf is both very powerful and very, very wise. Near the beginning of the story, Frodo asks Gandalf to take the ring because of his superior power and wisdom, but Gandalf declines because he knows that the Ring would quickly overcome him due to his desire to help the weak who are in need, out of pity.
On the other hand, Gandalf points out that weak Frodo has a special kind of hobbit strength to deal with the Ring, such as hobbits generally seem to have, which is being "soft as butter... and yet sometimes as tough as tree-roots... some would resist the Rings far longer than most of the Wise would believe."
However, as Gandalf also points out, the One Ring is so powerful that "in the end it would overcome anyone of mortal race who possessed it. It would possess him." That statement proves prophetic, as in the end the Ring does overpower Frodo and causes his reversal of deciding to keep the Ring for himself and not destroy it.
Gandalf & Saruman - Though both are powerful and wise wizards and both began as good men, Saruman turns evil and desires power over other creatures. We find out why when it is revealed that Saruman has been using one of the palantir seeing-communicating globes, which Sauron used to corrupt Saruman. This contrast between Saruman and Gandalf can easily be extended to contrast with Frodo, who had the powerful One Ring for many years and was not corrupted by it.
Saruman & Denethor - Both are wise and strong, though Denethor is not a wizard. Yet they both used a palantir and both were thereby bent and overcome by association with Sauron's evil mind. Again, the contrast with Frodo's incorruptibility can easily be seen --- until the very end, of course, when he, too, is overcome by evil power.
Denethor & Theoden - Both are rulers of their own nations, and both have become weakened and overcome by the mind of an evil being. In Theoden's case, it was Wormtongue. The difference between Denethor and Theoden was that Theoden accepted help and wise counsel from Gandalf, while Denethor pridefully rejected Gandalf's counsel and help. Frodo, too, accepted Gandalf's help and counsel, mostly, and thereby avoided ensnarement by the enemy --- until at the very last when the power of the Ring finally overcomes him.
Faramir & Boromir - As brothers and as sons of Denethor, Steward of Gondor, both had reason to covet the One Ring entrusted to Frodo as a means to aid their father and their beloved city-nation of Gondor. Because of his pride, Boromir gave in to his lust for the power of the Ring, while Faramir had an even better opportunity of taking it from Frodo, but didn't. As a past student of Gandalf, Faramir was able to resist the lust for power. Like Faramir, Frodo had the benefit of counsel and friendship with Gandalf, which probably was a contributing factor in his resisting the Ring until at the very last, when he succumbed to it.
So the foils or contrasts in the story establish a consistent pattern that allows us to make this generalization, which fits nicely with the old view/new view pattern of the story:
As shown by the foils or contrasts in Tolkien's novel, The Lord of the Rings, the more you associate with evil or lust for power, the more likely it will corrupt and overcome you. Evil power overcame all those who willingly associated with it, even Frodo, though he lasted much longer in resisting it than others who should have been stronger.
Now you have a great thesis statement for your literary essay, as well as lots of support for it --- all courtesy of applying the literary device of foils to the old view/new view pattern in the story.
This article was written by Bill Drew, a writing expert who specializes in teaching how to write an essay, in both theory and practice, especially thesis writing -- with special emphasis in teaching writing about literature, as well as writing advertising and other business writing.
He is the author of The Secret DNA of Writing Essays-And Everything Else, as well as The Secret DNA of Analyzing Short Stories. The two books plus software for the first book are available at his website, at Amazon.com, and at ThoughttOffice.com.
His NewView methods are being successfully taught in elementary, middle school, and high school classes.
For further information, see the many endorsements of his books and software on the Testimonials page of his website, as well as the several Reviews on Amazon.com.
Upcoming books planned by Drew include The Secret DNA of Writing Advertising, The Secret DNA of Analyzing Novels, The Secret DNA of School Writing, with Lesson Plans, The Secret DNA of Shakespeare's Plays, The Secret DNA of Communication, The Secret DNA of Education and Teaching, The Secret DNA of Hemingway's Writing, The Secret DNA of Introductions and Conclusions, The Secret DNA of Topic Sentences and Paragraph Development, and many more to come in the Secret DNA series.
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