Thanks, Corwyn. When I post I just kind of write what comes to me at that moment. Its nice to be told that it makes some sense [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] .
I think Tolkien is setting up Faramir's attitude against Boromir's - Boromir seems to feel 'We're the Good guys, so whatever we do must be good, because we're the ones doing it. Hence, its OK for us to use the Ring, because our use of it would make it good'. So, Good & Evil are subjective judgements, not objective realities for him.
Faramir, on the other hand, sees Good & Evil as objective states/realities, & the individual's moral choices will align him/her with one or the other. So, while Boromir could take & use the Ring & still remain true to his own moral code, Faramir couldn't. Boromir is a 'materialist', & judges every course of action purely on its effect in this world (but for all his 'realism' he gets it wrong). 'Good' & 'Evil' are just definitions of the way the 'West' on the one hand, & the forces of Sauron on the other, behave. He doesn't seem capable of recognising eternal moral absolutes which exist outside an individual people or race's temporal/societal standards . The irony is that Boromir's hard-headed pragmatism almost brings the Quest to ruin, while Faramir's idealism helps it to be successful. Boromir is very much an 'end justifies the means' type, while Faramir knows that the End reached is determined by the means used.
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