Is Sauron Frodo's shadow?

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Originally Posted by Me

Well I think it's a great exaggeration to say that Frodo spends the novel becoming like Sauron, seduced by power.

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

My sentiments exactly. However, I think there's a grain of truth in this exaggeration, if you dig deep enough - which is the purpose of this thread.

By saying "a great exaggeration" that grain of truth is implied, of course. But this definition of fantasy, while perhaps accurate to D's own work, which I'm not familiar with, can hardly be said to be a close fit for LotR. I also think Morsul hit the nail on the head. I certainly don't think it was Tolkien's conscious or unconscious intention for it to be read this way in any case, but one of the tell-tale signs of a great work of literature are the many possible ways of finding different meanings to it.

Off the top of my head, the Túrin saga would be a better example to use for D. Here you really can see how Morgoth and his curse are as real inside of Túrin's mind, as the Dark Lord is real sitting on his throne in Angband. We readers are never sure whether Morgoth really can change the fate of Túrin for afar, or if his own poor decisions are the real cause of his tragedy. But this story plays out much like a Greek drama where fate's seemingly inevitable, and few would argue that fex. Oedipus belongs to the fantasy genre.

Here's a thread that touches on this:
The curse of Morgoth