30 pages • 1 hour read
J. R. R. TolkienLeaf by Niggle
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1945A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Leaves and Branches
Niggle’s tree is the focal point of the entire story, and the reason Niggle has a difficult time preparing for his journey. However, the leaves and branches that continually grow and expand symbolize the unpredictability of life and the creative cycle. The narrator remarks that “it had begun with a leaf” and kept growing larger and larger from there (88). The leaf is a symbolic reminder that even the smallest concepts and ideas, no matter how insignificant, can grow and develop into something amazing. Moreover, the sprawling branches and roots that come from this single leaf are indicative of the creative process, especially for artists. Though Niggle felt like the picture just kept getting bigger and bigger over time, he trusted the process of creating his art despite receiving critical remarks from his neighbors. Though Niggle never physically finishes his masterpiece before he must take his long journey, a corner of his canvas is preserved in a museum. By adding this small detail to the story, Tolkien is validating Niggle’s struggle with his own creative process, because even though Niggle didn’t quite finish his picture and he wasn’t considered very good at painting, people still recognized the worth of his picture, and they only got to see one very tiny corner of it. Therefore, the leaves and branches highlight how unpredictable life can be; and yet, as much as we try to prepare for life’s unexpected twists and turns, we will never be able to do so.
Some scholars believe that Tolkien designed the tree after his own creative process, because Niggle’s imagination often gets the best of him, and his ideas become too large for him to manage before he must depart on his journey. Similarly, Tolkien also had many works published after his death because he felt that many of them were not ready to publish beforehand.
The Long Journey
Though the story never explicitly states that Niggle’s “long journey” is a metaphor for death, the afterlife, and the transience of life in general, there are several parallels that allow readers to make that connection. When the story begins, the narrator tells readers that Niggle finds the journey “distasteful,” meaning that the journey is not one he is looking forward to. The use of the term “long-journey” symbolizes Niggle’s ascension into the afterlife. This supports the theme of transience within our lives, and how everyone, including Niggle, has a difficult time coming to terms with the passing of time. Moreover, at the beginning of the story, readers can feel Niggle’s tension while he is trying to prepare for his journey, though it is never exactly clear what Niggle must do to be prepared. This tension is immediately resolved once Niggle is escorted away from the workhouse and into what is later referred to as “Niggle’s Parish.” The tension highlighted before is a parallel to the anxiety many people feel in regard to death and the afterlife. The transience makes them nervous and uncomfortable, as it did for Niggle. Therefore, the symbol of a “long journey” connotes something is unpleasant (like death) but also very difficult to prepare for, making time a very precious gift.
Niggle’s Parish
Niggle’s Parish is the name the Porter gives to the place where Niggle and Mr. Parish live together before Niggle’s departure for the mountains. The merging of their names signals the reconciliation of the Practicality Versus Creativity dichotomy the story has established. Before their journey, Niggle and Mr. Parish struggled to appreciate and help one another; in Niggle’s Parish, they have time to reflect on what they can learn from one another. The building of a communal house suggests that Mr. Parish’s practicality and Niggle’s creativity are a perfect match. Niggle’s creativity creates the house and the world of Niggle’s Parish, while Mr. Parish gives Niggle excellent advice as to where things belong and what needs to be done. The finished house clarifies that both skills are essential.
Niggle’s Parish also resonates within the story’s religious symbolism. In many Christian denominations, a parish is a region under the spiritual oversight of a single priest. It is therefore a basic building block of Christian community—the level on which much of day-to-day religious practice, including love for one’s neighbors, occurs. Niggle and Mr. Parish’s friendship establishes this kind of community in Niggle’s Parish, and the story concludes with the First and Second Voices recognizing the region as a “useful” spot for others to “holiday” or seek “convalescence.” In this imagined afterlife, Niggle and Mr. Parish’s cooperative efforts create a waystation between the workhouse (a purgatorial space) and the mountains (heaven).
The Mountains
When the story is viewed as a religious allegory, the mountains represent heaven. In life, Niggle creates art that points to greater spiritual truths. This is seen in his inclusion of the mountains in his painting although he can only capture a small piece of them in his picture: “[T]here were glimpses of a forest marching over the land, and of mountains tipped with snow” (88). Niggle sees the mountains in person after he finds the Great Tree: “The Mountains were glimmering far away” (104). The distance between Niggle and the mountains suggests that Niggle’s Parish, while a place of great beauty and harmony, is still a part of purgatory and the protagonist has not entered heaven yet. At the end of the story, the shepherd, who symbolizes Christ, invites Niggle to join him in the mountains. This adds to the mountains significance as a symbol of heaven and show that Niggle’s good deeds and love of neighbor have purified him so that he can enter paradise.
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