Perhaps there's more going on here - perhaps the real issue is how much we, as individuals, find in the characters.
I'm reminded of Tolkien's On Fairy Stories, where he talks about the way a storyteller & a reader/hearer 'co-create' the story. The reader supplies the imagery of the world as described by the hearer - a river will be 'the River' - a combination of every river the hearer has seen, but especially the first river to register on that individuals conciousness - same with 'the Hill', 'the Mountain', etc.
Perhaps the reason Tolkien's creation resonates so strongly with us is not because of what Tolkien gives us, as much as because we contribute to it.
To take Faramir, again. For me, he is a man trying to live up to an ideal, however painful it might be. He does struggle, but his struggle is not whether or not to take the Ring - he has abiding principles which will not allow him to do that. His struggle is to live up to his ideal - even at the cost of losing all he cares about. To say he would not take it, even if he found it lying by the wayside, & then to take those words as a vow, & be bound by them, doesn't imply a man who is simply too perfect to be believeable, but one who has decided what is right, & will, even if it destroys him & everything he loves, do it.
This is central to Tolkien's philosophy - we should do the right thing, simply because its right, not because it will gain us some kind of advantage - the end of that road is Saruman - he starts off wanting the 'right' side to win, but winning becomes so important in the end, that he only cares about that, & when it looks like the other side will be the winner, he simply changes sides.
Faramir knows what's right, morally, ethically, & he will do it - or die trying, because that's actually more important than achieving 'victory' in this world.
In other words, maybe I've supplied that interpretation of Faramir - maybe its not in the text (though I find it difficult to interpret him in any other way, but perhaps that's just me), but because I see Faramir in that way, he becomes more 'real' to me, a more moving & inspiring character.
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