Thought this might brighten your day - thanks to Colin Macpherson for
passing it to me and sorry if you've seen it before !
Bob H
Lord of the Rings as an allegory for the Ph.D??
>>
>>>>The story starts with Frodo: a young hobbit, quite bright, a bit
>>>>dissatisfied with what he's learnt so far and with his mates back home
>>>>who just seem to want to get jobs and settle down and drink beer.
>>>>He's also very much in awe of his tutor and mentor, the very senior
>>>>professor Gandalf, so when Gandalf suggests he take on a short project
>>>>for him (carrying the Ring to Rivendell), he agrees. Frodo very quickly
>>>>encounters the shadowy forces of fear and despair which will haunt the
>>>>rest of his journey and leave permanent scars on his psyche, but he also
>>>>makes some useful friends. In particular, he spends an evening down at the
>>>>pub with Aragorn, who has been wandering the world for many years as
>>>>Gandalf's postdoc and becomes his adviser when Gandalf isn't around.
>>>>
>>>>After Frodo has completed his first project, Gandalf (along with head
>>>>of department Elrond) proposes that the work should be extended. He
>>>>assembles a large research group, including visiting students Gimli and
>>>>Legolas, the foreign postdoc Boromir,and several of Frodo's own friends
>>>>from his undergraduate days. Frodo agrees to tackle this larger project,
>>>>though he has mixed feelings about it. ("'I will take the Ring', he said,
>>>>'although I do not know why.'")
>>>>
>>>>Very rapidly, things go wrong. First, Gandalf disappears and has no
>>>>more interaction with Frodo until everything is over. (Frodo assumes his
>>>>supervisor is dead: in fact, he's simply found a more interesting topic
>>>>and is working on that instead.) At his first international conference in
>>>>Lorien, Frodo is cross-examined terrifyingly by Galadriel, and betrayed
>>>>by Boromir, who is anxious to get the credit for the work himself. Frodo
>>>>cuts himself off from the rest of his team: from now on, he will only
>>>>discuss his work with Sam, an old friend who doesn't really understand
>>>>what it's all about, but in any case is prepared to give Frodo credit
>>>>for being rather cleverer than he is. Then he sets out towards Mordor.
>>>>
>>>>The last and darkest period of Frodo's journey clearly represents the
>>>>writing-up stage, as he struggles towards Mount Doom (submission),
>>>>finding his burden growing heavier and heavier yet more and more a part
>>>>of himself; more and more terrified of failure; plagued by the figure
>>>>of Gollum, the student who carried the Ring before him but never wrote
>>>>up and still hangs around as a burnt-out, jealous shadow; talking less
>>>>and less even to Sam. When he submits the Ring to the fire, it is in
>>>>desperate confusion rather than with confidence, and for a while the
>>>>world seems empty.
>>>>
>>>>Eventually it is over: the Ring is gone, everyone congratulates him, and
>>>>for a few days he can convince himself that his troubles are over. But
>>>>there is one more obstacle to overcome: months later, back in the Shire,
>>>>he must confront the external examiner Saruman, an old enemy of Gandalf,
>>>>who seeks to humiliate and destroy his rival's protege. With the help
>>>>of his friends and colleagues, Frodo passes through this ordeal, but
>>>>discovers at the end that victory has no value left for him. While his
>>>>friends return to settling down and finding jobs and starting families,
>>>>Frodo remains in limbo; finally, along with Gandalf, Elrond and many
>>>>others, he joins the brain drain across the Western ocean to the new
>> >>land beyond.
>>
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Dr Bob Holdsworth,
Reactivation Research Group,
Dept of Geological Sciences,
University of Durham,
Durham DH1 3LE,
UK
Tel +44(0)1913742529
Fax+44(0)1913742510
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dgl0www1/rrg.htm
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