[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by davem

I can't see anyway that the Ring could have tempted him by offering to fulfil any of his desires.

Davem, I would most certainly disagree with this premise in your argument. The Ring works by finding that which the individual desires and offering it to them. With Galadriel it was the desire to establish a realm and rule over others. With Boromir, it was his desire to defend Gondor and meet Sauron in battle. With Gollum, it was secretive, inquisitive nature and love of "precious" things. Gandalf accepts that he would be corrupted by it, since it would appeal to his desire to do good. Even Sam is tempted by the idea of a great garden covering the poisonous plains of Mordor. So, I think that there is no individual desire, however pure, that the Ring would not be able to "work on". Faramir is no exception here, and neither is Aragorn.

Now, Boromir88 brings up an important distinction here. There is a difference between becoming corrupted by the Ring through merely being within its vicinity and succumbing to it as Ringbearer. But, since we have examples of those that succumbed through being within its vicinity, it is clear that the Ring's influence, its power to corrupt, extends beyond simply the individual who happens to be bearing it at any given time. I hold with the belief (suggested by Tokien in his Letters) that no one (with the exception of Bombadil, who is a special case) would have been able willingly to destroy the Ring. The tragedy of Frodo (and his heroism) lies, for me, in the fact that he blames himself for not being able to do something that no other person would have been able to do. If someone else could have done what Frodo couldn't, it would severely diminish Frodo's character in my eyes.

Now, if one accepts (as I do) that no one would have been able to destroy the Ring voluntarily, then it follows that everyone would ultimately have been corruptible (and corrupted) as its bearer. There is evidence for this in Gandalf's refusal to bear it and in Galadriel's admission that, had she failed the "test", she would have become a Queen terrible to behold, a source of despair. Sam is able to give it up, but his time as Ringbearer was short. Had he borne it all the way from the Shire, I have no doubt that he would have found it a lot more difficult, if not impossible, to relinquish it.

Now, as I have said, the Ring's influence clearly extends beyond its immediate bearer. I do not believe that its influence on its bearer and its influence on those around it was any different save, perhaps, in strength. So, on that assumption, it follows from what I have said above that, given sufficient exposure, anyone within the vicinity of the Ring would ultimately have succumbed to it. Some would hold out longer than others. Some would no doubt hold out for a very long time indeed. But everyone without exception (well, one exception as noted above) was vulnerable to it. Had the Fellowship not broken when it did, I am sure that others would have felt its pull. It had no need to work on anyone else while it held Boromir within its power. But with him gone, I am sure that it would have chosen another "victim", perhaps even Aragorn himself, given his ancestry and clear purpose (ie desire). Had Faramir been there in Boromir's place, he would have been a suitable alternative for the Ring's wiles.

So, I do not see Faramir as uncorruptible at all, despite what he says to Frodo at Henneth Annun (and I think that there is much sense in what Boromir88 says in Faramir having "learned his lesson, giving him even greater resources to resist it). As I said before, I believe that he would have held out longer than his brother. But I have no doubt that Faramir would have succumbed eventually, given sufficient exposure to the Ring's focused influence.