The Lord of the Rings: An Allegory of the Ph.D.?
The story starts with Frodo: a young hobbit, quite bright, a bit dissatisfied
with what he's learnt so far and with his mates back home who just want to get
jobs and settle down and drink beer. He's also very much in awe of his tutor
and mentor, the very senior professor Gandalf, so when Gandalf suggests he take
on a short project for him (carrying the Ring to Rivendell), he agrees. Frodo
very quickly encounters the shadowy forces of fear and despair which will haunt
the rest of his journey and leave permanent scars on his psyche, but he also
makes some useful friends. In particular, he spends an evening down at the pub
with Aragorn, who has been wandering the world for many years as Gandalf's postdoc
and becomes Frodo's advisor when Gandalf isn't around.
After Frodo has completed his first project, Gandalf (along with head of department
Elrond) proposes that the work should be extended. He assembles a large research
group, including visiting students Gimli and Legolas, the foreign postdoc Boromir,
and several of Frodo's own friends from his undergraduate days. Frodo agrees
to tackle this larger project, though he has mixed feelings about it. ("'I
will take the Ring', he said, 'although I do not know why.'")
Very rapidly, things go wrong. First, Gandalf disappears and has no more interaction
with Frodo until everything is over. (Frodo assumes his supervisor is dead:
in fact, he's simply found a more interesting topic and is working on that instead.)
At his first international conference in Lorien, Frodo is cross-examined terrifyingly
by Galadriel and betrayed by Boromir, who is anxious to take the credit for
the work himself. Frodo cuts himself off from the rest of his team: from now
on, he will only discuss his work with Sam, an old friend who doesn't really
understand what it's all about, but in any case is prepared to give Frodo credit
for being rather cleverer than he is. Then he sets out towards Mordor.
The last and darkest period of Frodo's journey clearly represents the writing-up
stage, as he struggles towards Mount Doom (submission), finding his burden growing
heavier and heavier yet more and more a part of himself; more and more terrified
of failure; plagued by the figure of Gollum, the student who carried the Ring
before him but never wrote up and still hangs around as a burnt-out, jealous
shadow; talking less and less even to Sam. When he submits the Ring to the fire,
it is in desperate confusion rather than with confidence, and for a while the
world seems empty.
Eventually it is over: the Ring is gone, everyone congratulates him, and for a few days he can convince himself that his troubles are over. But there is one more obstacle to overcome: months later, back in the Shire, he must confront the external examiner Saruman, an old enemy of Gandalf, who seeks to humiliate and destroy his rival's protege. With the help of his friends and colleagues, Frodo passes through this ordeal, but discovers at the end that victory has no value left for him. While his friends return to settling down and finding jobs and starting families, Frodo remains in limbo; finally, along with Gandalf, Elrond and many others, he joins the brain drain across the Western ocean to the new land beyond.