The Four Things that Young Men Can Learn from Fantasy Novels

In news that is not a shock to anyone who knows me, I spent a lot of time in trouble as a kid. I was rebellious, stubborn, and (to quote my mother) “lacking in any tact at all,” all traits that I am still waiting to grow out of. When I was grounded to my room (which was often), I had no TV, no cell phone, no video game system, and definitely no computer or internet access. However, what I did have was a shelf of books and could usually convince my dad to let me borrow some of his when I ran out of things I wanted to read.

A couple quick disclaimers before I get to this fancy list of mine. First off, I am going to be discussing a lot of things that happen in two sets of pretty commonly read fantasy series: The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter along with a few events from other novels. If you haven’t read those books before, crawl out of your cave and get on it! I mean at least check out the movies. You also may not want to read any more of this post.  There are probably spoilers here, but they are necessary. “But I want to read your blog!” you desperately say? That’s cool. Check out some of the old posts, like the one where I talk to myself or the one with all the ways to fix modern sports.

The second thing to keep in mind is that I am a man. When I pitched the idea for this week’s post to my girlfriend, she asked why I am focusing on young men. The best answer I can give you is this: I can only tell you why I believe young men should read these novels based on my own experience, and since my experience as a young female is severely lacking, I can’t speak to experiences with the ladies. If you have more experience growing up as a member of the double x chromosomed population, feel free to drop a comment on here letting me know how much of this applies to you!

Without further ado, my nerd card is being renewed below. Read on while I grab my glasses, pocket protector, and dice with too many sides.

1. When the Going Gets Tough, the Hobbits Save the Day (or Something Like That)

I believe Shakespeare was the first author to pen the lines “Crap rolleth downhill” or something of the like. Some days/weeks/years are just rough, especially for the walking hormone smoothies that are teenage boys. As a teacher/coach/retired teenager, I totally understand that. Nevertheless, you have to persevere through the difficult times or accept an inability to ever accomplish anything, a task modeled fully in fantasy novels.

It’s a fairly common element of literature that the protagonist has to hit a low spot before the climax and redemption, but who could ever have more persistence than Frodo from The Lord of the Rings? Frodo crosses miles upon miles, covered in cliffs, swamps, and volcanic ash, all to save the world at the risk of his own life and sanity. As he journeys closer and closer to Mt. Doom in Mordor, the ring gets heavier, much as our tasks appear more difficult when closest to their achievement. Yet Frodo, a simple hobbit from the Shire, is able to destroy the ring (with the help of Gollum’s pearly yellows) and save Middle Earth. Admittedly, no man (or hobbit) is an island, and even Frodo needed the help and support of Sam, bringing me to my next point…

Gollum does so love to help.

2. Cause Ya Gotta Have Friends (and Mentors)!

And, occasionally, hetero-lifemates.

Do you know who works alone and trusts no-one in fantasy novels? The bad guys. The characters that are best loved and admired in these novels are always the ones who are willing to work with, lead, and be led by other characters. In Harry Potter, the value of the friendship between Harry, Hermione, and Ron cannot be overstated. They’re basically the peanut butter, jelly, and…um…bread…of the wizarding world. We see the value in close friendships the most in the (slightly dragging) middle of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows when Ron leaves the other two, resulting in struggles for all three, along with an awkward dance scene being added to the movie.

Arguably even more than young men need friends, they need mentors. In all fantasy novels, the main character has a mentor of some sort (usually the old, bearded sort) who teaches them their crafts and drops mad knowledge bombs. When Frodo mentions that he wishes that the ring did not need to be destroyed during his lifetime, Gandalf answers with, “So do I…and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time given us.” Not to be outdone, Dumbledore reminds Harry that, “It is a curious thing…but perhaps those who are best suited for power are those who have never sought it.” Does a day go by in which statements like that don’t hit us in the gut like Tyson before his cannibalistic endeavors? Characters like these model in novel form the types of mentors young men should seek out and metaphorically fasten themselves to. Yet, these mentors don’t just drop words of wisdom on our lead characters; they often teach them something more…

3. Know Your Strengths and Embrace Them

Unlike in many other types of fiction, fantasy lead characters are almost inherently flawed or seem to have some obvious disadvantage in their society. The mentors of our protagonists often leave the story fairly early on, typically through death, unfair punishment, or badass duels with Balrogs. Once this occurs and the characters have a few pages of confusion and distress, they must move on in what is usually a seemingly unintended fashion that focuses on their own strengths. Samwise Gamgee is a hobbit, meaning that he probably is a towering three feet and six inches or so tall. Despite this obvious disadvantage, he is able to clear out an entire tower of orcs and save Frodo by tricking them into believing that he is a much larger warrior. In the first Harry Potter book, Harry helps defeat a troll by shoving his wand up its nose.

This is when I figured out that British people say “bogeys” instead of “boogers.”

A massively important realization for a young man is the assessment of his own strengths. While I would love to tell stories about how I have always been good at everything I tried, I am mediocre at best in many things. For me personally, I had to accept that I am/was never more than a slightly above average athlete and that the only way in which I would have any athletic success in my life was through outworking as many other players as possible and learning as much as possible about the games that I played. Many young men have a similar realization at some point, but rather than forcing the clichéd square peg in the round hole, these young men will have to find a way around their limits and embrace their own strengths. Harry and Sam both had to realize that they lacked the strength to succeed in crucial moments, and so they had to find a way around the expected path.

Furthermore, not to harp on this point too much, but part of realizing that you don’t have all the strength and skills that you wish you did is realizing that this is the case with other people as well and not overlooking them. Gimli and Legolas have a dislike and distrust of each other due to the hatred of their races (dwarves and elves respectively) for one another, but they eventually see the value in a friendship. Harry is kind to Dobby, even though Dobby intends to maim him (but not kill him; what a guy). Throughout the rest of the books, Dobby comes to Harry’s rescue. And if you really need to know why you should never underestimate someone, I have four words for you: Nevile “Nagini Slayer” Longbottom. Dude goes from being paralyzed and destroying cauldrons to wielding the sword of Gryffindor like the Highlander in about two thousand pages.

There can only be one.

4. That Last Point Was Long. Shouldn’t There Be a Transition Here?

                Yeah, that would be just lazy, but I don’t have a good one that flows. How about this:

4. This One’s for the Ladies

Much better….ladies.

All jokes aside, fantasy novels are one of the areas in which I most often see strong female characters written by men, especially in more modern novels. While Arwen was rather limited in the book version of The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series is full of tough women. Between Hermione, Molly and Ginny Weasley, and Tonks, the corner market is being held down for intelligent, fearless women. In many of the novels written in the past couple of decades, women are featured not as damsels in distress, but as strong characters, even with minor roles.

I bring this up not to suggest that all things are equal in fantasy novels now, but rather to bring up the way the male characters treat these female characters. In these novels, any character that treats women with anything worse than the mildest disrespect is immediately characterized as one of the bad guys. The heroic characters, whether they are thieves or priests, ALWAYS treat women with respect and do what they can to protect these women, even when their intentions are misguided. For our young men in this country, I believe this should be a constantly instilled lesson. Without devolving into any sort of tirade, I’ll just say that chivalry is not dead.

Most of All, Young Men (and Women) Need to Read

In my completely biased opinion as an English teacher, reading is one of the most important skills that can be imparted on young people. If you can read well, write well, and speak well, you will always find a place for your skills. Despite my love of fantasy novels, I also believe that reading should not be limited to one genre or type of media. I know a man who used to force himself to read or revisit a Shakespearean play in between reading novels for pure enjoyment in order to diversify his vocabulary and continue to push himself through hard texts. I try to read news articles (and not just from ESPN) daily, even if I have to cheat and read short ones. Though many of the attributes that I believe are valuable can be learned through fantasy novels, reading only one type of text is like never trying a chili cheese dog because you like hot dogs; you would be missing out on something great.

How do you get your heartburn?

Make sure to comment on any books that have influenced your life!