Was Boromir a mistake?

[Jessica Jade]

I don't think Faramir would have taken the ring. He seems more pure and resilient than his brother. Remember in Henneth Annun, when he did not want to take the ring from Frodo? He didn't even want to see it. I agree that the blood of Numenor does not run so thick in Boromir; this may, in part, explain his actions at the foot of Amon Hen. We saw in Lorien how, after his thoughts and desires were laid bare by Galadriel, he began to cast strange looks at Frodo. This continues during the trip down the Anduin. Merry and Pippin are worried by the way he acts, but no one in the company, even Frodo, guesses how far the temptation of the ring has poisoned him. He has inherited the fighting strength of Gondor but not its learning; otherwise, he would certainly heed the warnings of Gandalf and Elrond.

However, it is easy to underestimate the importance of Boromir. Boromir may actually do some good by confronting Frodo. At the very least, he forces a decision. It is characteristic of The Lord of the Rings more general that bad events are turned toward a good end through some coincidence; here, Frodo's indecision is delaying the company and Boromir's action (though deplorable) forces the hobbit to act immediately. Moreover, it forces Frodo to make what his heart tells him is the right decision. He knows that he must head for the Cracks of Doom, but, as Sam correctly observes, he is simply afraid--afraid of Mordor but also afraid that if he goes back and tries to convince the others to go to Mordor, they will talk him out of his decision. This shows Frodo's deep honesty of character; he could not live with himself if he took the easy way out, even if it seemed reasonable. It is Tolkien's view, rooted in Christianity, that evil will in the end defeat itself. Thus, Boromir's treason against the Company, even though it breaks the Fellowship, has the ultimate good effect of moving the Ring further toward the Land of Shadow.