Squatter gets it right for me here:
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In the case of Frodo, we do actually have Tolkien's word for it that he could never have resisted the temptation of the Ring in the final crisis. Thus the conclusion of his quest presents a moral lesson about his tolerance and mercy toward Gollum. If Frodo and Sam had killed him, as it was only logical and sensible to do, then he would have been unable through his final treachery to save Frodo from the domination of the Ring. Essentially, Frodo has the opportunity to decide whether he is to destroy the Ring and complete his mission or to claim it as his own and be destroyed, but his will has been overcome. He is no longer able to make the decision for himself, but the outcome of his earlier decisions has been to bring the means of his salvation with him.
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In other words, Middle Earth was saved because of Frodo's compassion towards Gollum. He had the chance a number of times to rid the world of Gollum, but did not do so. In the end, this is what the whole of Lord of the Rings is about to me. REDEMPTION. ME was redeemed from falling into Sauron's hands because of Frodo's compassion towards Gollum. without this, ME would fall.
A couple of things. On these threads it has been mentioned that Frodo failed at the Sammath Naur and there were no 'heroes' at this point. In my point of view Frodo SUCEEDED. Did he physically throw the Ring into the Fire? NO. But what was the Quest? To destroy the One Ring. Was the One Ring destroyed? YES. Was it destroyed because of Frodo's compassion towards Gollum? YES.
Therefore to me, Gollum is about as far away from a D E M as you can get. He is integral to the whole of the LOTR.
Regarding the Eagles. They were servants of Manwe, right? So giving them the Ring to fly into Mordor gives us these problems:
1/ Gwahair could well have kept the Ring for himself, just like Gandalf would have - the temptation would have been too great. These birds aren't the normal flap your wings, eat food, and die variety - They are sentient beings. So, they couldn't give the Ring to the Eagles.
2/ It would have set alarm bells ringing throughout Mordor if they attempted to fly into Mordor and Mount Doom WHILST SAURON WAS ALIVE AND THE RING NOT DESTROYED. So they couldn't do that either.
3/ Did the Eagles really save the day at the Morannon? I can't see where it says this. They assisted, no doubt, but once the Ring was cast into the Fire (which happened fairly quickly after they arrived, I surmise), then the forces of Sauron at the Black Gates did a runner anyway, didn't they?
4/ Therefore why are the Eagles a D E M? Why aren't they entitled to fight against Sauron. They faught in the battle of the 5 armies? - were they seen as a D E M there? I admit they were a way of retrieving Frodo and Sam quickly from Mount Doom. But the Eagles here are a veichle to quickly move the characters back to their friends, rather than having to have Gandalf srping after them on Shadowfax (for example) - they were a handy veichle for Tolkien to use to get his heroes back ASAP and keep the story moving.
5/ Gwahair has already been in the LOTR assisting Gandalf a couple of times, as was his wont. Again, this seems to disprove the theory that the Eagles were a D E M.
anyway, that's my 2 cents worth....