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Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle
a) what was Frodo's motivation for destroying the Ring?
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Duty ... a desire to do "the right thing" no matter how hopeless the cause.
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b) what was it in Frodo that made him vulnerable to the Ring and how is that connected to point a)?
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Formendacil just mentioned Bilbo and the things that Bilbo and Frodo have in common. The qualities that Bilbo has that makes the difference are
pity and
mercy. He spares Gollum when he could killed him. So does Frodo. Of course, it is Frodo's act of mercy that means that Gollum can reappear at the climactic moment to enact the providential snatching of the Ring that ensures its destruction.
But ... is this connected with Frodo's desire to claim the Ring? Could it be that at that moment in the Sammath Naur the Ring appealed to Frodo's sense of pity and mercy towards ... Sauron?
Could the Ring have deceived Frodo into thinking that instead of destroying the Ring, and therefore Sauron, he should instead take the Ring for himself and therefore spare Sauron? So at that moment (of madness) it might have seemed to Frodo that becoming the new Dark Lord was the merciful thing to do.