[Bêthberry]

Great post, Child. You have a knack for recovering history!

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

First, I agree with Mr. Underhill that Frodo would probably have concurred that his personal misfortunes were the result of his own shortcomings: that he somehow deserved the indifference of the Shire and his own physical and mental pain. I've always had the impression that Frodo never confided in anyone, not even Sam, once he came home to the Shire. He acted as if he was eaten up with guilt, feelings that Tolkien confirmed in one of his letters. There are certainly indications in the story that Frodo expected to die at the end of his journey. When that did not occur, he had a hard time dealing with it. Whether part of him actually felt he deserved to die, it's impossible to say with certainty, but I don't think we can rule that out.

Very true, I think. I've often wondered how much Frodo had what might be called the guilt of the survivor. What does a child feel whose parents die tragically and young, leaving him orphaned? How much of his loss and bereavement went into his character and into his decision to bear the Ring to Mount Doom?

Originally Posted by Child

Until you read the Silm and place LotR against the backdrop of that history, you don't have a full sense of how blazing hard it was to pull off the destruction of the Ring. With only a few exceptions, Silm recounts story after story of great and powerful Elves and mighty Numenoreans who fell flat on their faces when they tried to combat the power of the Dark Lord.

This is an interesting idea. Does that suggest a lack of coherent artistic vision in LotR, that a true understanding of the Ring's power or of the story itself isn't given there, but must be found in another text? Rather than look for clues in primary texts or the real world, does LotR force us to look to other subcreated works? This would mean that LotR, as a story, cannot stand on its own, but for a full appreciation must be read in context of all Tolkien's works.

Originally Posted by Child

Tolkien was surprised to receive many letters where readers berated Frodo for failing since the author's own perspective was so different. I feel it's in this context that Carter's comments can best be understood.

Wouldn't it be interesting to know where those readers came from? Were they mainly American? (just as an example) Would it be possible to discern some kind of cultural or social divide which could explain how this interpretation differed so greatly from Tolkien's? What kind of perspective or philosophical outlook gives way to the impression that Frodo should be berated?

As always, Child, you bring up fascinating ideas. And I'm in a rush, so I've written not very entishly...