LotR -- Book 6 - Chapter 3 - Mount Doom

[Aiwendil]

Fordim wrote:

No he didn't either

And Davem:

CT clearly shows he did, and that that was his father's intention.

I think that Davem is right - though I do not quite agree with his proof. I don't think that either JRRT's intention or CT's interpretation of his intention can show a fact about the text conclusively. But I do think that the passage itself indicates fairly clearly that Frodo willed and knew what he was doing.

The argument seems to hinge on two points of Frodo's phrasing: "I do not choose" and "I will not". Now, I agree that these are interesting idiosyncracies of his speech at this point. But I do not think that they clearly indicate a lack of will or choice.

Notice the phrasing of my previous sentence: "I do not think . . .". Does this indicate a lack of thought on my part? I hope not! Nor does "I do not choose . . ." or "I will not . . ." necessarily indicate a lack of choice or will on the part of the speaker - though it does perhaps indicate something about the speaker's attitude.

At the very least, I would say that Frodo chose not to choose - which is, as I'm sure we all know, a choice in itself.

But I do think there's an ambiguity here between choosing and not choosing, between doing something and being compelled to do something. It's this same ambiguity that comes up again and again in connection with the Ring. And, as I've said before, I don't think that either answer is right - or rather, I think that both are right, and indeed that this is one of Tolkien's most brilliant strokes.