J. R. R. Tolkien’s son, Christopher Tolkien analyzes his father’s work, particularly the metaphoric use of magic in his books: “Magic is very close to the machine. Magic is coercion…” And due to man’s use of machines, or “magic,” in order to attain power, Christopher Tolkien says it was important for his father that the magical ring in his “Lord of the Rings” books to be ultimately destroyed. Christopher reads his father’s letter to him that provides evidence for this analysis where J. R. R. Tolkien explains his critical feelings towards man’s knack for making machines such as the atomic bomb: “Labor-saving machinery only creates endless and worse labor.”
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