On this thread, people have talked about Frodo largely in terms of "sacrifice". While that is a large part of who Frodo is, Tolkien does give us other glimpses of his personality.
What about the Frodo who made a conscious decision to stay and try to rescue his friends at the Barrowdowns, despite the fact that he could have gotten away on his own, or the Hobbit with "perky cheeks" who danced and sang on a tabletop in the Prancing Pony? Then there's the Frodo who struck out with Sting against the Ringwraith at Weathertop or who escaped on Glorfindel's horse, crying out in defiance: "By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair,....you shall have neither the Ring nor me!" Or the Frodo who cried out "They cannot conquer forever" upon seeing the flower garland bound about the head of the king's statue as a token of hope. While we do not see enough of this high spirited Frodo, these references suggest he was surely there.
Secondly, Frodo is unique among Tolkien's characters (certainly among hobbits) in that he had one foot in the real world and one foot in Faerie (the world of the Elves), even more than his mentor Bilbo did. This "spiritual" aspect of Frodo was evident even before he took on the burden of the Ring. It can be seen in his attempt to learn Elvish and his wanderings about the Shire at night. It can also be seen in Frodo's dealings with Glorfindel and his later conversations with Faramir, especially his inherent feeling of shame that his own people did not stand and look to the West after their meals as the men of Gondor did.
I certainly do not doubt that Sam is a strong and compelling character, and that Frodo would have failed without his aid. Yet Frodo exhibits a poise, a gentleness, almost an other-worldliness that can't be found in Sam. Sam would likely have slain Gollum without Frodo's more gentle staying hand. More than anything else, it is this otherwordly quality that makes Sam love his master. We see this quality in Frodo through Sam's eyes. This is one of my favorite passages in the book.....
Quote:
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The early daylight was only just creeping down into the shadows under the trees, but he saw his master's face very clearly, and the hands too, lying at rest on the ground beside him. He was reminded suddenly of Frodo as he had lain asleep in the house of Elrond, after his deadly wound. Then as he had kept watch Sam had noticed at times a light seemed to be shining faintly within ; but now the light was ever clearer and stronger. Frodo's face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked old, old and beautiful, as if the chiselling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face was not changed. Not that Sam Gamgee put it that way to himself. He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured, "I love him. He's like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no."
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Frodo a "thin" character? I think not. The light in Frodo's eyes is the same light that shows in the eyes of the Elves. While sitting beside the ill Frodo in Rivendell, Gandalf sees this light and actually compares Frodo to the Phial of Galadriel, a phenomenon that Verlyn Flieger discusses at length. And it is this same gentleness and light that almost brings Gollum to repentence, that causes him to reach out with love and touch the knee of the sleeping Frodo until he is chased off by Sam. Tolkien states in his Letters that this is a turning point in the story and that Sam's actions, though motivated by love, actually did great harm.
How could so many readers have overlooked or forgotten such scenes? Looking back on this thread, I sometimes fear that the Frodo people are referring to is
not Tolkien's Frodo, but that of Peter Jackson. PJ did a disservice to Frodo by portraying him as a one-sided victim, who did nothing to try and combat the power of the Ring. PJ's Frodo is truly annoying---constantly swooning and keeling over, standing mesmerized in front of the Nazgul rider while actually offering him the Ring. I have said this before in other threads: I fear that readers of the LotR, especially new readers who saw the movie before they read the book, will never be able to see beyond PJ's limited depiction of Frodo.
I don't want to get into the discussion of "Who is the hero of LotR?" because there are many, many heroes -- not just Sam and Frodo. I think the question is inherently limiting. And while it's possible to point to one quotation in the Letters where Tolkien says Sam is the hero, it's also possible to point to others where Tolkien "complains" about Sam's limitations -- how Sam can not see even a glimmer of hope in Gollum, which Frodo does. My real concern in this post is not to identify a hero or downgrade Sam but to make sure that the different dimensions of Frodo's personality are not overlooked.
P.S. Frodo's "job" by the way was to take the Ring to the slopes of Mt. Doom. He was not asked to do what no one could do, which is to discard it after having been under its influence. Even Gandalf could not do that. Tolkien is very clear on this point in his letters -- no one could have done more than Frodo did. In that sense, Frodo very much succeeded in his task.