Fantasy and Tolkien

So now we have just begun our start into fantasy. From what I can gather it's a pretty broad "genre." It can be set in almost any time and anything goes as far as subject matter (dragons, creatures, cities in the sky ect). What I found interesting is that fantasy is really a way to discuss topics that relate to the human condition from a 3rd person point of view. Well okay, maybe not all the time, but I think being able to tell a story that deals with such things are more interesting and lasting for me. Substance. Depth. Character. Challenging your points of view, what you think you know. Urging you to find out who you are and to understand. Outward social commentary and inward scrutiny of self. Fantasy seems like a good medium for that. I'm not sure why yet. I don't quite understand it, but I like where it's leading me. As far as Tolkien, The Hobbit is a fun story. I had read it years ago and saw the movie recently a few months ago. I found it interesting that he had taken such an interest in language and build his world from that. Also, reading the annotated version, thought it was interesting he thought maybe the plural of dwarf should have been dwarrow, not dwarves. The talk about the hero's journey was also very insightful. I had always thought the journey was a straight line, from point A to point B. Actually, it seems to be a circle, a cycle. Things go down before they get better and it can restart at any moment. I felt like the hero's journey tied directly into life, anyone's life. Going to school, learning a craft, love, anything, ultimately ending up at having the freedom to live. Can't wait to learn more about it.