When I was looking for an epigraph to go with this thesis I was already at the stage where one starts feeling frustrated with the research and thesis. After speaking with some of my colleagues who graduated at approximately the same time as me, I assume this is something everyone experiences but at the time it was the most pervasive feeling and I really wanted to express this as a warning for anyone thinking, like me, of taking up a Ph.D. because just continuing school might be "easier" than finding a job.
At this point I came across this absolutely amazing analogy between J. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and the way you might perceive your typical Ph.D. ... while you are doing it! I thought it perfectly expressed the transition from eager curiosity to despairing exhaustion that might overcome your average Ph.D. student ... or maybe just me. I asked the author, David Pritchard, for permission to use his work and he gladly granted it.
Upon submitting my thesis to my committee for review, however, it was pointed out to me that this story was entirely inappropriate for an epigraph, not so much because it was too long or didn't say anything motivational about the thesis, but rather because a literalminded reading of this story, from the perspective of the faculty or someone critical to the faculty, would indicate that I had been extremely unhappy with the supervision I received or the attitude of my supervisor and committee during examination, not to mention the implication that some of my work might not have been credited. While this was the last thing I meant to imply, I have to admit that from a faculty perspective this does make this story inappropriate for inclusion in the thesis.
I would like to once again apologize to the members of my committee, and to all those who got involved in the question of how to deal with this problem, for inadvertently implying discontent with anything but myself and my perception of the process of gaining a Ph.D. Instead I offer you the epigraph now contained in the thesis:
because cartainly removing the original Lord of the Rings epigraph was the appropriate thing to do. For all those who are still curious about the original story, you will find it below.
Lord of the Rings: The Ph.D. AnalogyThe 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 seem to 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 his 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 get 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.
With permission by
Dave Pritchard, Nov 17, 2001
as a paraphrase of the plot of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings