The Two Towers
This novel tells the story of Frodo and Sam continuing on their journey to Mordor and traveling with Gollum, Merry and Pippin dealing with orcs, and the rest of the fellowship trying to stop Sauron and get to Frodo and Sam. The initial situation is that Frodo and Sam catch Gollum spying on them (who is trying to steal the ring). Frodo then forces Gollum to swear to lead Frodo and Sam into Mordor. Frodo and Sam are in trouble because they are completely lost in the rocky mountains of Emyn Muil. But their guide, Gollum, isn’t in it to help them. He will do anything he can to get the ring.
The conflict is that Sam sees every trick Gollum is pulling, but Frodo can’t because the Ring is preventing him from seeing the truth. The Ring is overpowering him. Gollum’s good side has promised to help Frodo but his bad side is willing to kill him and Sam. Sam overhears and is suspicious but doesn’t know which side to listen to.
The complication is that when Frodo and Sam meet up with Faramir of Gondor, he seems very helpful but he is threatening to Gollum because Faramir thinks Gollym is evil. He almost has his archers shoot Gollum. Frodo saves Gollum from this, but this leads Gollum to believe Frodo is actually going against him. Gollum’s bad side is starting to get the upper hand.
The climax is Shelob, the spider. After Sam beats up Gollum, Sam runs to confront Shelob. Finding Frodo bitten and dead-ish from Shelob, Sam decides to take the Ring and finish his master’s quest. He then finds out Frodo’s alive, and goes to save Frodo so they can continue on the quest.
There are also several symbols in this novel. The first is the Moving Forest, which ties to Shakespeare's Macbeth. Tolkien made a forest army because in Macbeth Shakespeare wrote of a great forest, but never used them fight. Tolkien wanted a forest army, so he made a forest army. However, this Moving Forest also tells us that all of Middle-earth will be fighting this war. No one is safe.
The next symbol is Lembas Bread, which is a snack made by elves to last on long journeys. It helps keep Frodo and Sam alive during their trek to Mordor. During the beginning of their meeting with Gollum, Frodo offers Gollum some Lembas, but Gollum spits it out and declares he hates it and won't ever eat it. Later, Gollum uses Lembas to frame Sam (blames Sam for wanting the Ring. All part of Gollum's plan to get the Ring - his "precious" - by making Frodo doubt Sam and go alone with Gollum).
The last symbol is the Phial of Galadriel, a.k.a. star-glass, which Galadriel gives to Frodo as he leaves Lothlórien in The Fellowship of the Ring. The light in the Phial of Galadriel is harmful to all things evil. Like the Lembas, how it is made by elves and Gollum can't eat it because he is evil. Frodo avoids using it for awhile, until Gollum leads him to Shelob, a giant spider. Gollum's plan is for Shelob to eat Frodo and then Gollum would get the Ring. However, Frodo uses the Phial of Galadriel when he is in a time of trouble with Shelob and Sam reminds him of it. The Phial is able to hurt Shelob and Sam and Frodo are able to get away.
The tone of this book definitely escalates from that of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring which is more chatty and even lighthearted to The Two Towers which is dark, suspenseful, and ominous.
The writing style of this novel is once again very detailed like the first two, but this one is especially full of action and dense.
The conflict is that Sam sees every trick Gollum is pulling, but Frodo can’t because the Ring is preventing him from seeing the truth. The Ring is overpowering him. Gollum’s good side has promised to help Frodo but his bad side is willing to kill him and Sam. Sam overhears and is suspicious but doesn’t know which side to listen to.
The complication is that when Frodo and Sam meet up with Faramir of Gondor, he seems very helpful but he is threatening to Gollum because Faramir thinks Gollym is evil. He almost has his archers shoot Gollum. Frodo saves Gollum from this, but this leads Gollum to believe Frodo is actually going against him. Gollum’s bad side is starting to get the upper hand.
The climax is Shelob, the spider. After Sam beats up Gollum, Sam runs to confront Shelob. Finding Frodo bitten and dead-ish from Shelob, Sam decides to take the Ring and finish his master’s quest. He then finds out Frodo’s alive, and goes to save Frodo so they can continue on the quest.
There are also several symbols in this novel. The first is the Moving Forest, which ties to Shakespeare's Macbeth. Tolkien made a forest army because in Macbeth Shakespeare wrote of a great forest, but never used them fight. Tolkien wanted a forest army, so he made a forest army. However, this Moving Forest also tells us that all of Middle-earth will be fighting this war. No one is safe.
The next symbol is Lembas Bread, which is a snack made by elves to last on long journeys. It helps keep Frodo and Sam alive during their trek to Mordor. During the beginning of their meeting with Gollum, Frodo offers Gollum some Lembas, but Gollum spits it out and declares he hates it and won't ever eat it. Later, Gollum uses Lembas to frame Sam (blames Sam for wanting the Ring. All part of Gollum's plan to get the Ring - his "precious" - by making Frodo doubt Sam and go alone with Gollum).
The last symbol is the Phial of Galadriel, a.k.a. star-glass, which Galadriel gives to Frodo as he leaves Lothlórien in The Fellowship of the Ring. The light in the Phial of Galadriel is harmful to all things evil. Like the Lembas, how it is made by elves and Gollum can't eat it because he is evil. Frodo avoids using it for awhile, until Gollum leads him to Shelob, a giant spider. Gollum's plan is for Shelob to eat Frodo and then Gollum would get the Ring. However, Frodo uses the Phial of Galadriel when he is in a time of trouble with Shelob and Sam reminds him of it. The Phial is able to hurt Shelob and Sam and Frodo are able to get away.
The tone of this book definitely escalates from that of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring which is more chatty and even lighthearted to The Two Towers which is dark, suspenseful, and ominous.
The writing style of this novel is once again very detailed like the first two, but this one is especially full of action and dense.