Nice post,
Boromir.
Denethor was 'blinded by his grief' - it caused him to act rashly. In the end, it could be argued that he became almost a liability in the fight because he seemed to be going mad, determined to have things end his way - when he took Faramir and decided to burn them both, I think it was maybe his way of trying to take control of events that were rapidly spinning out of his grasp, of ending things the way
he determined and so having some of his power at the last. Maybe he felt some sort of jealousy or resentment towards Gandalph:
Boromir, you said:
Quote:
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What Gandalf brings to the table, is his leadership, his "pep-talks." It was said whenever Gandalf was around the hearts of men rose.
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So in this case, it seems, words spoke louder than actions
This would probably have hurt Denethor: he had given his life for his city, to lead it strongly as a warrior, one of his sons giving his life for it - giving his life
fighting, not
talking. But when this white wizard came, this man whose robes were so clean and white it was as if he had never fought a battle in his life, and with a few fine words he stole the hearts of Denethor's people, while moving against the Steward (or so it would seem in Denethor's eyes, for Gandalph obviously wished to finally return the King to his throne) and taking advantage of his hospitality...well, you can see Denethor's point of view.
In this case, but not necessarily throughout LotR, Gandalph and Denethor may be seen as opposites in a way, in the ways they chose to fight (Denethor with actions, Gandalph with words), but maybe this made things rather more difficult in Minas Tirith - there was bound to have been some sort of undercurrent emotional battle between the two characters because of their conflicting interests, and without this - therefore
without one of them present to stir things up - it may have gone more smoothly, and success more assured. Maybe things would even have turned out differently for Denethor at the very end, had he still remained entirely in control without the White Wizard to 'challenge' his authority.