Lord of the Rings: an allegory of the PhD?

[pippilicious]

A friend just sent me this. Oh, so true...
http://bfg.hpc.susx.ac.uk/~irene/lord_of_the_rings.pdf

"Lord of the Rings: an allegory of the PhD?"

Comments

[frodolover]

Oh dear, so scarily true.

[pezzae]

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...

Oh gods, it's all true! *weeps*

[_osk_]

lol.

I forwarded this to my ex-post-doc ex-lab-mate and he asked if he could be Aragorn.