I think life is a jape. Yours, mine, everyone's
Is it treason to say the truth? A bitter truth, but no less true for that.
When the sun has set, no candle can replace it.
You should grieve if a fictional character is killed. You should care.
I'm a huge fan of Tolkien. I read those books when I was in junior high school and high school, and they had a profound effect on me. I'd read other fantasy before, but none of them that I loved like Tolkien.
Men's lives have meaning, not their deaths.