What is your heroic ideal? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

deagol · 04-20-2010, 12:11 PM

I don't think Boromir's inability to withstand the lure of the Ring makes him any less heroic. He had the sad misfortune of being a plot device introduced for the express purpose of illustrating exactly that weakness in man. I've got to figure a guy like Boromir is destined to perish amid a burgeoning swath of slain orcs even under the best of circumstances. That he was able to go out on his own terms, valiantly undertaking an impossible task -- a metaphor for all of Gondor if ever there was one -- seems heroic enough to me. For me, heroism requires a clear choice, and LoTR complicates this because of the varying affects (or lack thereof) of the Ring upon each character and how it manipulates each individual according to his or her own stature and character (and lucky for Faramir that it did). In this context, it's hard not to recognize Sam as the most heroic figure in the saga. Not simply because he rises from the humblest of origins, but specifically because of those origins. I mean, who is the perfect foil for the Dark Lord, who likes nothing better than to see living things wither and die?

Why, a gardener, of course.

04-20-2010, 12:11 PM	#12
deagol Pile O'Bones Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 24	I don't think Boromir's inability to withstand the lure of the Ring makes him any less heroic. He had the sad misfortune of being a plot device introduced for the express purpose of illustrating exactly that weakness in man. I've got to figure a guy like Boromir is destined to perish amid a burgeoning swath of slain orcs even under the best of circumstances. That he was able to go out on his own terms, valiantly undertaking an impossible task -- a metaphor for all of Gondor if ever there was one -- seems heroic enough to me. For me, heroism requires a clear choice, and LoTR complicates this because of the varying affects (or lack thereof) of the Ring upon each character and how it manipulates each individual according to his or her own stature and character (and lucky for Faramir that it did). In this context, it's hard not to recognize Sam as the most heroic figure in the saga. Not simply because he rises from the humblest of origins, but specifically because of those origins. I mean, who is the perfect foil for the Dark Lord, who likes nothing better than to see living things wither and die? Why, a gardener, of course.