Frodo at Sammath Naur

[The Saucepan Man]

But I do not choose now to do what I came to do.

the change in his words does no more than emphasize that he fully willed his act.

Well, I am with Christopher Tolkien on this one.

Taking these words alone, the inevitable consequence of Frodo's decision not to choose to destroy the Ring is that it will not be destroyed by him. Since he is consciously not choosing a course of action that would result in the destruction of the Ring, he is effectively choosing not to destroy it.

But the answer may be found in the other words that he speaks in any event. The full quote is:

But I cannot do what I have come to do. I will not do it. The Ring is mine.

So, he expressly states that he will not do what he came to do, namely destroy the Ring. The words used clearly indicate that this is an act (or, more accurately, an omission) consciously willed on his part.

I agree with those who have said that he could not have chosen to destroy it. No one (with the possible exception of Tom Bombadil [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ) could have chosen to do so. But that does not mean that it was not his choice not to destroy it. It is simply that he was powerless to resist making that choice.

The distinction is important, I think. The fact that it was his choice not to destroy it, albeit one which he could not resisit, is what leads to his later feelings of guilt.

The one thing which still puzzles me from the quote is the meaing of the words: "The Ring is mine". Does he decide not to destroy the Ring because he already regards it as his own, or does he decide to claim it as his own having decided not to destroy it?