Description

Gandalf rode down the mountainside at a frightening pace. His hairs whipping in the wind as he flew down the hill hoping to reach battlefield the in time. The stench of burning flesh filled his nostrils and he choked down the urge to vomit.

On the battlefield below all he could see were two things, hordes of living orcs and burning masses of dead ones. Gandalf's old bones ached as he descended the hill, but he knew it would all be over soon enough. Gandalf’s horse panted for breath, his heart was racing, but he still pressed on toward his goal.

Suddenly the sound of war cries filled the air. At first Gandalf thought it was the orcs yelling in victory, but alas it was his comrades screaming with joy at the site of Gandalf and the reinforcements. Gandalf's mouth watered for the sweet taste of victory that he knew was to come.

Comparison

Gandalf can be viewed as a sunrise. Especially when looked at in the Battle of Helm's Deep. In this battle Gandalf shows up with reinforcements at the sunrise, but this is not why he is like the sunrise. When Gandalf arrives it is at the darkest time for the people of Rohan.


The walls of this so called impenetrable fortress have been breached and many men have been slain, then as if by cue Gandalf appears like the sunrise and with the sunrise. They say that it is darkest before the sunrise and in this situation Gandalf was the human sunrise.


Once Gandalf arrived the battle turned around. They began to slay the orcs that were in the field, and all became light and goodness once more. This is very much like a sunrise in how when a sunrise comes it brings the light of day into a dark situation.

Cause and Effect

Gandalf was out walking one day when he came upon a horde of orcs camping out. Gandalf decided to get a party together and slay the orcs. Gandalf gathers his forces and proceeds to slay the orcs. A few orcs escape and make it back to their establishment where they mount up forces and create a counter attack.



The influence is Gandalf stumbling upon the horde of orcs. The event is Gandalf and the party slaughtering the orcs. The outcome is the orcs mount a counter attack since they are pissed.

A second scenario is orcs attack the Gondor while Gandalf is in it. He gets out his sword and begins to slaughter all of the orcs that come into his view. The orcs retreat in haste before more of them are killed.

The influence is the orcs attacking Gondor where Gandalf is staying. The event is Gandalf slaying more orcs. The outcome is the orcs retreat and back out of Gondor.


Another scenario is when Gandalf and the Gondorians mount an attack on the gates of Mordor. Gandalf yet again slays tons of orcs. This leads to Frodo being able to get to Mount Doom and destroy the "one ring" and in turn destroy Sauron and his forces.

The influence is the attack on the gates of Mordor. The event is Gandalf slaying hordes of orcs. The outcome is Frodo destroying the "one ring" and obliterating the forces of Sauron.

Advocacy Blog

Showing discretion is an admirable trait. It is usually not a good idea to rush into a situation without showing some means of discretion. When you are trying make the "right" decision you will usually think out the situation checking the outcomes of your actions.

Many characters show this trait, but none better than Gandalf. Gandalf is the wisest character in Lord of the Rings and he shows this by his discretion. It is very difficult to be wise without showing discretion. Gandalf does this many times in the story, but one of the key moments is when he goes to his elder Saruman to find out whether Frodo possesses the "one ring".

When wisdom is complimented by discretion you receive great outcomes. Gandalf's wisdom is far beyond that of any other character in the Lord of the Rings, and his discretion helps to show how wise he is because without wisdom you would not have discretion. A fool rushes into a situation unprepared, but the wise man is discreet about his actions.

Narrative

One day I received a text from my friend Alex telling me to come over and we would head up to Orlando for a party. I hopped in my Prelude and drove over to his house.

When I walked in he was sitting on his computer playing World of Warcraft. I asked him when we were going to leave, but he was so engulfed in his own little world he completely ignored me.

I began watching him cast bolt after bolt on Festergut. These magical powers drew me back to the Lord of the Rings and Gandalf the main wizard of the story.

In one part of the Fellowship of the Ring movie Gandalf is asked why he was late, and he responds a wizard is never late he arrives precisely when he means too. One very admirable aspect of Gandalf is the fact that he does not care what others think.

I quickly came back to reality and realized we were going to be late. So I shut off Alex's alienware laptop and told him we had to go. We got to the party late, but I didn't mind because image isn't everything.