Themes of The Lord of the Rings This is, according to Shippey, a very modern, 20th-century theme, since in earlier, medieval times, power was considered to "reveal character", not alter it. Shippey mentions Lord Acton's famous statement in 1887, that ""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..."" He then goes on to point out authors that were dealing in the same themes of power and corruption at around the same time as Tolkien wrote his work. These authors include George Orwell with "Animal Farm" (1945), William Golding with "Lord of the Flies" (1954), and T. H. White with
Blue Island (novel) bravado and cynicism with historical drama makes for a mostly satisfying mixture." "Publishers Weekly" called it a "spellbinding fable", and wrote that "this is no myth-like "Lord of the Flies". Contemporary history is an ever-present element, as German troops advance, France falls apart, the government evacuates Paris and refugees flood the countryside. ... Raspail ("Who Will Remember the People") narrowly avoids sentimentality in this powerful depiction of an end to innocence and illusion." Blue Island (novel) Blue Island () is a 1988 novel by the French writer Jean Raspail. The narrative is set in Touraine during World War II, where