Ld In The Mist Analysis

821 Words4 Pages
Lud in the Mist shows many aspects of recovery as viewed in Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories.” A basic example of this would be the appearance of fairy fruit and the note. These objects are not human elements, but similar to Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories” he claims recovery is “seeing things as they are” is not something to see as a part of themselves. Nathaniel sees the note as a piece of himself. The note changed him as a person and brought on a gloom that lasted throughout the rest of his life. While Nat’s son, Ranulph, ate the fairy fruit and his experience did not alter his outlook on life, but it did alter how he acted temporarily. However, the main concept in which “seeing things as they are” is further noticeable is in the element of death that is within Lud in the Mist. Tolkien sees recovery as a regaining of a clear view. To receive a clear view of what death is to the people of fairy world, Tolkien can bring light to the subject through recovery by his writing of “On Fairy Stories”. Tolkien says that “recovery” is by attaining a “clear view.” In Lud in the Mist the “clear view” is not apparent. An example of how Lud in the Mist expresses a bleak representation of clarity is when talking about the difference between the Fairies and the dead. “The country people, indeed, did not always clearly distinguish between the Fairies and the dead” (Mirrlees, Ch. II, 11). In Lud, the people who had eaten fairy fruit are seen as dead. Therefore, even though very much alive, they