Interesting discussion here on book versus movie Boromir, and his function in the story. My (now quite rusty) HoME-fu reminds me that Boromir was originally conceived as a nastier piece of work than he ended up being. There’s a suggestion in HoME VII that he starts thinking of seizing the Ring soon after the fall of Gandalf. In several early sketches, he and Aragorn head to Minas Tirith after the breaking of the Fellowship (he lies about why Frodo ran off), and when Aragorn is accepted as Lord there, Boromir heads off to seek an alliance with Saruman to help him get his position back. In one version Tolkien, contemplating the play of events after the fall of Mordor, muses, “What about Boromir? Does he repent? No – slain by Aragorn.”
It was actually only late in the process that Tolkien settled on Boromir’s death and redemption. It would be interesting to discuss how Aragorn doesn’t hesitate to forgive and comfort Boromir, not to mention cover up for him (“The last words of Boromir he long kept secret.”).
Anyway, the history of the composition aside, for me Boromir calls to mind Chekhov’s Gun – there’s all this talk about the powerful temptation of the Ring, you eventually have to have someone from the good side give in to it. And Boromir is tailor-made for it. From his point of view, the answer to any problem is to meet it with as much power as possible. “Valour needs first strength, then a weapon,” is his motto. He can’t really see alternatives to strength and power; if they don’t suffice, then (a la Byrhtnoth), “We shall fall valiantly in battle.” He was always the guy who was going to make a play for the Ring sooner or later.
I would agree that the movie made Boromir more likable. I reckon if you want to reposition his death to the climax of FotR, you want to have him be a character that audiences really care about, and you want to make his redemption more complete.
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Originally Posted by Bêthberry
It also, of course, makes it far more difficult to depict Aragorn's heroism in a sympathetic light and this was also a great failing of the movies.
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This is an intriguing idea but I’m not sure I follow you. Could you elaborate on this point?