> Which I'd consider bad news for the argument because Lord of the Rings is, despite Tolkien's opposition deeply allegorical. Tolkien was quite right that his

> Which I'd consider bad news for the argument because Lord of the Rings is, despite Tolkien's opposition deeply allegorical. Tolkien was quite right that his work was not allegorical. He created a fantasy world to explore themes that were important to him. It was not some coded message where Sauron is Hitler or something. He rightly despised such allegories, as do I. > You, just like Tolkien appear to have a conservative attitude towards fiction which always tends to deny obvious, often political intent in fiction because from your point of view, which I wouldn't even agree with, it allegedly diminishes art. I deny attempts to twist the plain meaning of words to fit a narrative. Tolkien created a fictional world to tell a story and convey certain universal truths he felt were important. Frank Herbert did the same. Some people, however, would like to twist that to fit a political agenda. Yes, for some strange reason I find that appalling. It doesn't simply diminish the art... it destroys it. As many are wont to say in such situations: go make your own art.