The Siege of Gondor as an image of American politics

The Siege of Gondor in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is presented in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation as a heroic battle between good and evil, and in that medium, it is inspiring. However, in the source material, the author had the opportunity to build a fuller world in which the prior failures of the southern Númenorian kingdom and its weary leadership as the War of the Ring looms explain…