MOTIVES BEHIND FOUR CHARACTERS’ DECISION MAKINGS

J. R. R. Tolkien is a fantasy story writer who wrote the famous trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. It is undoubtly a grand and complex story. However, its simple theme of good and evil has aroused my curiosity to find out how Gandalf, Saruman, Frodo, and Boromir''s motives reveal their good or evil action seen from their decisions making in The fellowship of the ring, the first book of the trilogy. In this study, I analyze their conflicts with the aid of literary theories of conflict and characterization. In addition, I also use the help of psychological and ethical theories to understand the characters'' motives in making certain decisions and their tendency to reveal good or evil action.