Just some random, belated thoughts...
- I wonder who originally made that hidden path with all those stairs, and to what purpose? There is a main road to the pass , and in the time of Minas Ithil I guess people used that one.
Quote:
|
Frodo raised his head. Despair had not left him, but the weakness had passed. He even smiled grimly, feeling now as clearly as a moment before he had felt the opposite, that what he had to do, he had to do, if he could, and that whether Faramir or Aragorn or Elrond or Galadriel or Gandalf or anyone else ever knew about it was beside the purpose.
|
I think one of the main topics of the books is going on and doing one's duty because it's the right thing to do, even though there may be no hope left whatsoever.
I love Frodo's and Sam's conversation about being in a greater story.
And the moment where Gollum almost repents is really tragic! For those who don't have Tolkien's letters, here is what he wrote about this incident ( in letter #246)
Quote:
If he (Sam) had understood better what was going on between Frodo and Gollum, things might have turned out differently in the end. For me perhaps the most tragic moment in the Tale comes when Sam fails to note the complete change in Gollum's tone and aspect. "Nothing, nothing" said Gollum softly. "Nice master!" His repentance is blighted and all Frodo's pitiy is (in a sense) wasted. Shelob's lair became inevitable.
This is due of course to the "logic of the story". Sam could hardly have acted differently. (he did reach the point of pity at last, but for the good of Gollum too late.) If he had, what could then have happened? The course of the entry into Mordor and the struggle to reach Mount Doom would have been different, and so would the ending. The interest would have shifted to Gollum, I think, and the battle that would have gone on between his repentance and his new love on one side and the Ring. Though the love would have been strengthened daily it could not have wrested the mastery from the Ring. I think that in some queer twisted and pitiable way Gollum would have tried (not maybe with conscious design) to satisfy both. Certainly at some point not long before the end he would have stolen the Ring or taken it by violence (as he does in the actual Tale) . But "possession" satisfied, I think he would then have sacrificed himself for Frodo's sake and have voluntarily cast himself into the fiery abyss.
|
Fascinating alternative by the Master himself!