why Frodo?

[Child of the 7th Age]

eldar14 ,

I see a lot of problems in what you are saying. I simply don't see support for some of your ideas in Tolkien's writing.

I don't think that Frodo's kindness towards Gollum was because he was such a good Hobbit. Yes, Frodo was good inside, but I think his kindness had other motives. I think Frodo was nice to Gollum because he needed proof that the ring couldn't corrupt him all the way; he needed to know that he still had a chance of always having that bit of good deep down inside of him, regardless of what power the ring had over him.

This is the "modern" psychological interpretation that PJ has given us in the movie. It is not what Tolkien wrote. We can certainly imagine and dream that Frodo may have had an underlying psychological motive of this type, being in the situation he was in, but that is very different from actually looking at the book and finding words that Tolkien wrote that would support such an argument.

. If Sam had been the one to bear the ring, his motivations would have been to save Middle Earth. To save the Shire and Rosie and all of that. But maybe Frodo had the slightly personal quest; he had seen the effect of the ring on Bilbo, and the effect it was starting to have on him, and he felt that he had to destroy it to save himself. Regardless of how good of a person you are, the motivation to save one's own skin is a very strong motivation, even stronger than the one to save the world.

In his Letters, Tolkien discusses the fact that Samwise was limited in his visions and aspirations. He was motivated by a staunch love for Frodo but sometimes couldn't see beyond that. Tolkien says, in that respect, Samwise was a more typical hobbit. His motivation was not to save Middle-Earth as you suggest, but to provide support for the friend he loved. He gave of himself unceasingly but it was for a friend rather than an abstract ideal.

Moreover, there is no hint anywhere in Tolkien that Frodo was aware of any detrimental effect that the Ring had on Bilbo: Gandalf was the only one who could see that. After all for 111 years of age, Bilbo looked mighty good to Frodo! When Frodo began the quest, he had no idea of what the Ring could do, either to himself or to the world. Even at Rivendell, he was just beginning to understand. Frodo had absolutely no personal reason to take up the Ring. He was by nature a stay-at-home hobbit, much more so than Bilbo. It took him months to leave the Shire after Gandalf spoke to him. He did not want to leave and hesitated to take up the Ring even in Rivendell. Look at the words Tolkien uses when Frodo finally spoke up and agreed to take on the job. When the actually spoke at the meeting, he felt as if someone else was using his voice, some other will was intervening. There was, thus, no personal motive to 'save his skin' as you state. Frodo can be accused of various shortcomings -- seeing himself as a martyr, losing hope too fast, dwelling on the negative-- but he never gave the least indication of taking on the job for personal reasons. Perhaps you get some sense of this in PJ's film? But it has nothing to do with Tolkien.

One of the things that bothers me greatly is that a lot of assumptions from the movie are creeping into the Books forum and being presented as fact or Tolkien's interpretation. There is a vast difference between movie Frodo and book Frodo. On this click here.