Tolkien on Freedom in Fantasy: Escaping the Prison of "Real Life"

What we call “real life” is often a prison.

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Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls? J.R.R. Tolkien

There are two types of escape in this world — one is good, and the other is bad. If we escape from prison to freedom, i…