When Gandalf refuses the Ring he tells Frodo that it would use his compassion against him - his 'desire for the strength to do good'. In other words the Ring might corrupt him through one of his greatest virtues.
This is exactly what happened to Boromir, the Ring finally got to him through his love for his people and need to protect them, he too 'desired the strength to do good'. The Ring tried to use one of his noblest qualities to ruin him - and failed.
Never forget Boromir threw off the Ring's influence alone and unaided, 'few have won such a victory' as Aragorn tells him. Even Bilbo needed Gandalf's help to give up the Ring. It has always seemed to me that a Man who breaks in the face of a temptation that even a Maia feared but manages to turn back to the Light by his own unaided strength is more to be praised then condemned.
Boromir was indeed a great Man, greatest of all in his ability to recognize and submit to a greater one, Aragorn, something his father could never have done. We don't see the inner struggle against pride and ambition he must have experienced but there can be no doubt that his nobler side won that fight, just as in the end it won out over the temptation of the Ring.
|