In my opinion, it’s a common misconception of modern critical analysis that DEM is always a “cheat” and never works under any circumstances. Trusting in faith is a major theme of LotR, and within that context, the occasional DEM not only works but is more or less necessary to support the theme. The characters trust that good will, in some way that they can’t foresee or completely cause themselves, triumph over evil, and their faith is rewarded.
I think it is important, on the other hand, that the DEM doesn’t directly solve the characters’ most critical obstacles. If a breath of divine wind blew the Ring from Frodo’s hand into the Crack of Doom, or an Eagle had scooped up the Ring and dive-bombed it into Orodruin’s cone, I think we’d all have been throwing our RotK’s across the room when we got to Book VI, Chapter 3.
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