Document Type

Unpublished Paper

Publication Date

Fall 2015

Abstract

When building a fictional world as involved and vast as that of J.R.R. Tolkien’s multiple drafts are a must in order to work out the exact details and to make sure that all the possible loose ends are tied up and addressed. Characters can come and go, change in temperaments and in how involved they are when it comes to the story itself. Whereas some characters may start of as highly involved in the plot, they may become nothing other than a supporting character after going through multiple drafting processes. For other characters, however, they may start as a walk-on/walk-off character, acting as nothing more than a device to help the story move along, but then end up becoming a highly important and involved character, detrimental to the good of the story’s outcome. With the vast amount of drafts Tolkien created for the series, his characters were no less subject to the process of creation. As The Lord of the Rings series underwent its development, Pippin grew substantially in his prominence, though his journey of development has different points of emphasis on it when Tolkien’s books and Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations are compared. Through both types of media, Pippin starts off the story as a foolish side character but then becomes a significant figure in the story who is essential in the society of the Shire and in the preservation of Middle Earth’s history.

Comments

A paper completed for English 4610.

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