Did Frodo REALLY volunteer to Bear the Ring?

[Ivriniel]

@Galadriel, yes there has to be something in this about Duty and the language of 'oughts' and 'musts' as very interwoven with indications of Frodo's bearing at vital points in the narrative. I'd have to agree with you about that.

I imagine the horror and hopelessness of having--even moments--of not completing the Quest must have been a very powerful influence over Frodo's thinking, yet to pursue the Quest in any case was what he did. I'm not sure, exactly, how that kind of hopelessness would have impacted his private realm of thinking and we don't see much of any of that for characters. It's dialogical, primarily, in how language shares ideas in the tomes.

@Pitchwife, yes I must agree with you about being too hard on Frodo. In fact, I did it, in part, to play 'devil's advocate' to elicit some debate. I'm reminded by reading your post of 'how' far I went at times into slam-dunking Frodo between reads of the books, only to re-discover that the story is not as dire as it got placed in the memory banks.

Yes - Gandalf did, at Elrond's position a *very* unusual take on the transparency thing. It's so very interesting, that one, and one that you never forget, after 25 reads or so of the trilogy, it remains one of the bright points in the mind. It has seemed to me that Elrond "Elf-fea-ised" the wound and made Bilbo 'a little like the Fading Eldar', or something? I've wondered if that was our first hint in the novel that Frodo and Bilbo were going to set sail for Valinor, ultimately. And yes, Frodo did remain replete with compassion, right throughout, for the greater part, and a 'schitz or two' maketh not a Ringwraith -

@Pervrinca, yes, I must say I see your points. There certainly are indications that Frodo could let the Ring go at that point. In fact, there's an argument, as seems to imply, that being chased by the Nine, hunted and having faced Wargs, a Balrog (that must have made the body fill with dread), etc, that he'd have really not wanted the burden at all.

@Jallante

That's great materials from Letters. I'm just looking through Letters myself, and was hoping someone would quote from them. Seems to me that there's hints in the materials, as you rightly point out that Frodo was.....

Muchly appreciated everyone