A few thoughts...(if I wait for my brain to get them all together, it will be 2010 sometime...)
davem
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The task was too great, & should never have been given to him, because it was inevitable he would fail to achieve it, & that he would be broken by it. Tolkien is showing us a deep truth about ourselves & about The Authority.
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I do agree with your points about Frodo knowing what he is doing and also that he could not possibly succeed. I cannot, however, agree that he
should not have been given the task, for this task, important as it was, could be achieved ultimately only by The Authority, Eru, the writer of the story, who, as Tolkien points out “is not one of us.” The fact that the task is given to Frodo is in fact fortuitous, for he is probably the only one who could have gotten as far as he did with it.
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Frodo condemns Gollum to be cast into the fire if he ever comes near him again, which action, I suppose, is a precursor to his claiming it, as it shows he clearly believes he has a right to use it to sit in judgement & pass sentence on any who dare to 'offend' against him. It is a terrible thing to say, especially knowing, as he does, that it will happen, & goes against Gandalf's injunction not to deal out death in judgement
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Is Frodo in fact condemning Gollum directly, or is he “merely foretelling,” much as Saruman does with Frodo later in the Shire? Your point above is interesting, inasmuch as there is some question as to the motivation of Frodo’s mercy to Gollum. First it is in conscious regard to Gandalf’s admonition, and Frodo voices his own wishes along the way that he did not place such high stock in Gandalf’s words, because he would just as soon be rid of Gollum. But Frodo, despite his wavering thoughts, does not abandon or betray Gollum. In fact, Frodo is, as Sharon says above, the one being in all Gollum’s years who had shown him mercy. Sometimes I think that the rarified nature that becomes more and more evident in Frodo as the journey progresses also causes some readers to think of him as less ‘human’ and less vulnerable to the same failings that other ‘normal’ beings are susceptible to. I think Frodo shows an amazing strength of will to overcome this “basic nature” that is so common to all. It is his conscious effort along the way, even in the face of his better judgement or his fears, that goes above and beyond and makes it impossible for me to blame him for what came along at the end, because he
is fallible and heir to the native failings of incarnate beings like any other. How can I judge when I know I would never be able to measure up to that standard? I think this lesson is internalized at first within Frodo with regards to his respect for Gandalf’s stature and experience but then slowly with regards to his own insight.
I do think that
davem’s point about placing Frodo’s “claiming” of the Ring farther and farther back may play a part in this tossing about of “blame,” but I think this point of view may be more of a reflection of the thoughts of Frodo himself after all is said and done. I can see him questioning his own motives in this way and finding himself wanting. I, however, cannot find fault with him, except in that he is human. Whatever fault arises from that inevitable circumstance, must be applied to us all, who have perhaps not been so sorely tested as Frodo.
I think I, like you,
Child, prefer to keep the true ends obscured to some extent, but the guessing game is irresistible. Of the idea of possession vs. desire to use the Ring, the Ring as active agent, I cannot speak at the moment. I hope to participate more later! I can never resist threads like this!
Cheers,
Lyta
P.S. Someday, if I can get it together, I'll wonder aloud about the ideas of the impossibility of Frodo's task to the impossibility of the task of the Elves of the First Age against the ancient evil of Morgoth, the need for intercession from "higher powers," etc. etc., but that's for later I suppose!
I take my leave. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]