SpM,
Quote:
I am having real difficulty here seeing any significant difference between Frodo succumbing to the Ring (an external evil) because he did not have the strength of will to resist it and Frodo succumbing to the evil within himself (an internal evil). To my mind, it is in the very act of succumbing to the external evil (and surely the Ring has to play a part here) that Frodo succumbs to his own internal evil.
|
Here's the way I see it. Ok, the Ring is an external evil, and does play a role in having Frodo not drop it into the fire. The reason it's not an "external" evil, is because the Ring can't force Frodo to do what he does. The Ring can offer you something, whether you take it or not, that is up to you, it's whether you got "what it takes" to resist it. From the Faramir quote above we can see that Faramir makes it up to the person. He says
Quote:
Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing,
|
So, to Faramir there is a choice in it, you either desire to take what the Ring has to offer, or you don't. Take this as a scenario.
A gun, what many would call an external evil, it's a bad weapon. Somebody takes the gun and shoots and kills someone. Now who's fault is it? Obviously the person's, the gun didn't pull the trigger by itself. The person who pulled the trigger fell to the internal struggle within himself to do it or not to. The Ring can't "force" anyone to do something, that's up to the person. The Ring can lure, and manipulate, but when it comes down to it, it's up to the person to throw it in or not. Let me tell you, I don't think anyone, in Frodo's situation, would have thrown it in. But thing is, you still have to consider Frodo's decision an "internal evil," for he had a choice, good or bad.