[Jessica Jade]

Yes, that IS an outstanding article! I'm glad you guys liked it. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Another point i wanted to mention about Frodo not going mad after the ring was gone...remember what the article said- the fact that it was taken from him by force-that meant that the part of him that desired the ring was never conquered. That's why he, when he was sick for the first time, was saying "It is gone forever. All now is dark and empty." Since he did not give it up of his own accord, like Bilbo did, he cannot be completely rid of the desire of it. At least not in Middle Earth.

That's one of the reasons that LOTR is so incredibly sad. Frodo made such a sacrifice in trying to complete the impossible quest to save the world. In the end, he only lost the world he sought to save. He became educated in true fear, sheer malice and evil, and became wise by the end. (As Saruman said, "You have grown halfing..."). The tragic thing about his maturing is that he loses the carefree, uncorrupted innocence that he once possesed-he lost the qualities that made him the ONLY person who was capable of going on the quest. Perhaps there were others who could have taken on the task, but certainly no one to whom it would have meant as much. I was crying when i read the end of LOTR. I, too, will definitely need a box of tissues when ROTK hits theaters. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]