The Lord of the Rings: an allegory of the PhD?

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Characters in this satire are purely fictional. No infringement of copyrights intended.
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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 adviser 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.

+Jomon John +sujith samuel +Aswin R 

Author: Unknown
Source: Danny Yee’s Humour Collection
http://danny.oz.au/danny/humour/index.html

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