[The Saucepan Man]

Davem, I beg to differ.

Originally Posted by davem

What you seem to be leaving out of your calculations is that Boromir is the Captain General of the Armies of Minas Tirith & therefore the Second in Command of the Gondorian Army. He has been on a mission to Rivendell for his CiC, & his expressed intent has always been to return to his father to report what he has discovered & take up his military command again.

And what you are leaving out of your calculations is that Boromir pledged himself to the Fellowship and to its Quest. Under the malign influence of the Ring, preying on his own wish to defend his people, he broke that pledge. I believe that it would have been the realisation of his folly and his genuine repentance that would have guided his actions, had he survived the encounter at Parth Galen. And I believe that he would therefore have sought to honour his pledge. Of course, none of them were bound to remain with the Fellowship, and Boromir had already indicated his intention to part with the company if they were not willing to accompany him to Minas Tirith.

Boromir held out long against this choice; but when it became plain that Frodo would follow Aragorn, wherever he went, he gave in. 'It is not the way of the Men of Minas Tirith to desert their friends at need,' he said, 'and you will need my strength, if ever you are to reach the Tindrock. To the tall isle I will go, but no further. There I shall turn to my home, alone if my help has not earned the reward of any companionship.'

However, that intention was stated before the events of Parth Galen, and at a time while he was still under the influence of the Ring. The sentence that I have emboldened is important, I think. Despite the Ring's influence, this is the "untainted" Boromir speaking. He would not desert his friends at need.

He had already shown compassion for the Hobbits, when the Fellowship was beset by cruel weather on Caradhras.

But I wanted rest and sleep, Bilbo, Frodo answered with an effort, when he felt himself shaken, and he came back painfully to wakefulness. Boromir had lifted him off the ground out of a nest of snow.
'This will be the death of the halflings, Gandalf,' said Boromir. 'It is useless to sit here until the snow goes over our heads. We must do something to save ourselves.'

'Have hope!' said Boromir. 'I am weary, but I still have some strength left, and Aragorn too. We will bear the little folk. The others no doubt will make shift to tread the path behind us. Come, Master Peregrin! I will begin with you.'

Add to that the fact that he had willingly undertaken to protect Merry and Pippin at Parth Galen.

'We shall all be scattered and lost,' groaned Aragorn. 'Boromir! I do not know what part you have played in this mischief, but help now! Go after those two young hobbits, and guard them at the least, even if you cannot find Frodo. Come back to this spot, if you find him, or any traces of him. I shall return soon.'

Whether he accepted Aragorn's command because he recognised his right as King, because he accepted him as de facto leader of the Fellowship or because he himself felt it was the right thing to do matters not. The fact is that he undertook to guard the two young Hobbits and they were lost while under his protection.

Had he survived, both his compassion and his sense of duty (to the Fellowship and more particularly to Merry and Pippin), now free of the Ring's influence, would, I believe him to have led him to accept and follow Aragorn's decision to follow after them. Indeed, I believe that it is a course which he himself would have advocated.

You are right that Boromir and Faramir are not the same person. But the difference between them was in wisdom and judgment, not compassion and sense of duty.

Thinking further on this, there are some interesting parallels here between Faramir and Pippin. Boromir protected Faramir as a child and he is protective towards Pippin both on Caradhras and at Parth Galen. Pippin is later, in Minas Tirith, associated closely with Faramir, being the one who effectively saves his life and later naming his own son after him. I am not saying that Boromir saw his brother in Pippin, but there is certainly a connection of sorts between these three characters, and this reinforces my belief concerning Boromir’s likely choice, had he survived Parth Galen.