Character Analysis Thread

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Originally Posted by MatthewM

"It proved otherwise at the test" - the proof is right there. The test was the temptation of the Ring. Boromir tried to take it, thus he failed the test. Faramir opted to let Frodo go. Thus he passed the test.

Still I'm afraid you're mistaken... Let me break it down. This is how you've interpreted the quote:


Faramir thinks that Boromir is the top man in Gondor.

Boromir thinks that Faramir is the top man in Gondor.


To say "it proved otherwise at the test" is to say that what they thought beforehand didn't turn out to be true. But to say that both were mistaken wouldn't make any sense in the context of the story. Who then was the top man in Gondor? It must be someone else.

If you read the passage as I (and Estelyn) do however it makes perfect sense to say "Yet it proved otherwise at the test":


Faramir thinks that Boromir is the top man in Gondor.

Boromir thinks that Boromir is the top man in Gondor.


It proved otherwise because Faramir passed the test his elder brother failed, like your said yourself. They were both wrong: Faramir, not Boromir, was the unrivalled one.