THE PROTAGONIST’S CONFLICT IN J.R.R TOLKIEN’S NOVEL THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to analyze the protagonist’s conflict in J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. This study is focused on two points of analysis: internal conflict that consist of man vs. self and external conflict that consists of man vs man, man vs society, and man vs nature. The Fellowship of the Ring talks about the beginning of a friendship formed by nine members who have the same goal to destroying the ring owned by the king of darkness, Sauron, on Mount Doom. To destroy the ring, the protagonist faces many conflicts. This study uses the psychology of literature to study and understand the psychiatric aspects that exist in a literary work and applies Kenney’s theory to explain the types of conflicts in this novel. To analyze the data, descriptive qualitative is a method that is used to explore and understand the meaning of individuals in groups that describes a social or human problem. The results of this study show that the types of protagonist’s conflicts are internal and external conflict. The types of internal conflict cover man vs self; external conflict covers man vs man, man vs society, and man vs nature. Keywords: Protagonist, Conflict, Kenney’s Theory, Psychology of Literature.