[davem]

Well, I think what Williams was talking about was choice, or 'preference'. What is Frodo's preference at that point? Does he consent to the Ring's control, or not? Is he almost 'looking on', observing himself, & providing a commentary - 'Frodo, at this point, is not going to destroy the Ring. He is going to keep it'. Or is he telling us his decision? Is he telling us that he has decided to go along with what the Ring wants, give in to the temptation, & would have done so anyway, even if the Ring didn't have the power to force him.

Taking as a starting point the obvious fact that there was no way that he could have destroyed the Ring, the question is, was his will so completely broken that he had no control over his actions, or even his words, so that effectively he is an external observer/commentator on events at that point, or had he in some way consented to the Ring's dominance, & stopped struggling, surrendered the last of his will & just stopped fighting? Is Tolkien saying that in the end evil will defeat us, even if we don't give in, because its too powerful & we're too weak, or is he saying we will all give in & 'sin' in the end, because we're fallen beings.

Back to the Manichaen vs Boethean thing - Was Mani right, evil is an external force, which is too powerful for us to resist, - however hard we try we will be broken by it in the end ( which begs the question, why even bother to struggle against it in the first place), or was Boethius right, & 'sin' a human failing, a weakness, a giving in, preferring our own satisfaction over the willed pattern of the Universe. If evil wins, is that because an external enemy defeats us, or because we surrender to our own 'dark, 'sinful' side? Personally, despite everything Tolkien says about events at the Sammath Naur in his letters, I don't think, deep down he ever really comes down on one side or the other, which is what Shippey seems to think.