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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 9406756" data-attributes="member: 7026594">I could see reading it as allegorical of WW1.&nbsp; People can judge the work that way, Death of the Author style, despite Tolkien's saying that he despises allegory in all forms, and explicit statements that the work was not intended to be allegorical.&nbsp; The allegorical readings I've seen have not seemed to stand very well or match the text aptly.Tolkien did distinguish between allegory and &quot;applicability&quot;, and say that certainly elements of his stories are inspired by and do parallel things in the real world.&nbsp; His war experiences obviously informed his views on war and how he wrote about war. In his letters he likened orcs to real people, though said that such people are on all sides in real world wars.I think this is more a matter of visibility.&nbsp; When I was a kid, literal gay bashing was still a pretty common thing.&nbsp; There are real problems with social media and I agree that anonymity and the feeling of distance and insulation enables some awful behavior.&nbsp; But it's still not taking a brick or bat to someone's skull.Ostracization was much more brutal and punitive in the past when it was harder to move to a new community or have transferable skills. One silver lining to our more atomized society is that it's easier for people to pick up and move, maybe somewhere more accepting, or a big city where you won't stand out so much, than it once was. As many vulnerable kids and members of disadvantaged and persecuted communities have done over the years.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 9406756, member: 7026594"] I could see reading it as allegorical of WW1. People can judge the work that way, Death of the Author style, despite Tolkien's saying that he despises allegory in all forms, and explicit statements that the work was not intended to be allegorical. The allegorical readings I've seen have not seemed to stand very well or match the text aptly. Tolkien did distinguish between allegory and "applicability", and say that certainly elements of his stories are inspired by and do parallel things in the real world. His war experiences obviously informed his views on war and how he wrote about war. In his letters he likened orcs to real people, though said that such people are on all sides in real world wars. I think this is more a matter of visibility. When I was a kid, literal gay bashing was still a pretty common thing. There are real problems with social media and I agree that anonymity and the feeling of distance and insulation enables some awful behavior. But it's still not taking a brick or bat to someone's skull. Ostracization was much more brutal and punitive in the past when it was harder to move to a new community or have transferable skills. One silver lining to our more atomized society is that it's easier for people to pick up and move, maybe somewhere more accepting, or a big city where you won't stand out so much, than it once was. As many vulnerable kids and members of disadvantaged and persecuted communities have done over the years. [/QUOTE]

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