[MatthewM]

Wow, I just read all of this on Boromir and now I must get involved!

So many things to say. Before I start---you are all debating on the Movie Boromir mostly, and the actions he makes...I feel like most of you are referring to the movie as fact. I know this is the movie thread, but are we to just forget about the books?

In the book, Denethor didn't even want Boromir to go to Rivendell. He wanted him to stay home with his people. He much would have rathered Faramir to go-"Therefore my brother, seeing how desperate was our need, was eager to heed the dream and seek for Imladris; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself. Loth was my father to give me leave..." "Loth" is a word meaning unwilling, reluctant. So the whole thing about "bring the Ring to Daddy" doesn't apply to Tolkien's Boromir at all. It is a thing made up by the movie. Boromir came to Rivendell to seek the answer of a dream, and once he found out the answer, THEN he knew of the Ring. There's no doubt that Boromir wanted to bring the Ring back to his father (for he loved his father), but mainly he wanted it for Gondor, for the defeat of Mordor, and for "his own glory therein" (TTT).

To the most recent poster who thinks Tolkien thought Boromir as "evil"---Tolkien never said Boromir was evil. There is no doubt some negative connotation towards him in The Letters (he mentions that Faramir had “a ‘bossy’ brother” (p. 323)), however he is never deemed 'evil'. Their was nothing evil about the character. Boromir came from Gondor, he was the main defender of his City. He knew little of outside people besides those of his kingdom and Rohan. He travels all the way from his country into Rivendell, a completely foreign place with people he has never met. In Gondor they weren't even 100% sure where Rivendell lay! From FotR-- "I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay." He joins the Fellowship to GO HOME, not to steal the Ring and bring it back. We all know he wanted to use the Ring against Sauron from the start, but he was convinced at least for a little while from the words of Elrond. He starts to wonder what it would be like to bring the Ring back along the way. He was traveling with Aragorn, a cultured Ranger who knew many peoples, many lands, and many things altogether. He also traveled with Legolas, an all knowing elf who could walk on snow. The wizard Gandalf who every so often popped in to Gondor and tried to council Boromir's father who Boromir is loyal to and obviously trusts him over the wizard. You would be weary and feel a bit alienated with this company as well! Boromir had just reason to be a bit reserved and not "open up" like they were his buddies back in Gondor. Not to mention, Boromir thought of Hobbits as fairy-tale creatures in lore, the first Hobbit to enter Gondor was Pippin, after Boromir's death!

Boromir88 said something about the book Boromir being "childlike"...how is this so? I don't see that at all. He was a mature Man with opinions and prejudices, just like us all. A lot of people here say that they like the movie Boromir better than the book Boromir. I must say, I think Jackson did a great job transfering Boromir's character from book to screen. Sean Bean does a brilliant job. I do agree there are some instances in the movies where Boromir is more "humanized" (ex: the choke up in Lorien as Galadriel looks at him), but it isn't like Boromir didn't show tears or emotion in the books. If you remember, Boromir wept after trying to take the Ring from Frodo. He wept when the madness had past. Tolkien's Boromir is more than a "foil". He was intended as a "foil" but Tolkien didn't make that his only purpose. If that was the case, he probably wouldn't have been redeemed in the end. The most notable characters in The Lord of the Rings grieve over the death of Boromir when they hear of it---

Gandalf: “Poor Boromir! I could not see what happened to him. It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men. Galadriel told me that he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. I am glad. It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir’s sake.” (The Two Towers) ... ""a masterful man, and one to take what he desired" (The Return of the King)

Theoden: "Alas for Boromir the brave!" (TTT)

Eomer: "Great harm is this death to Minas Tirith, and to us all. That was a worthy man! All spoke his praise. He came seldom to the Mark, for he was ever in the wars on the East-borders; but I have seen him. More like to the swift sons of Eorl than to the grave Men of Gondor he seemed to me, and likely to prove a great captain of his people when his time came." (TTT)

And of course there are the many words of Faramir. There you have it. There's no doubt that the act of trying to steal the Ring from Frodo was evil, but it wasn't Boromir's character that was evil. It was the Ring that made him want it, it was the temptation. That was the evil present, and in Boromir's case it was external, it played on his internal. Boromir was a hero. He was the best defender in Gondor in his time, and he defended Merry and Pippin until his death. Self-sacrifice. He was a hero.

I do wish that (like Azaelia said) that people would read into Boromir more. There is really so much to this character that few realize. His purpose, to me at least, goes beyond a "flawed character", although at least I would like people to see him as flawed (which he was) than evil (which he was not).