LotR -- Book 6 - Chapter 3 - Mount Doom

[Alphaelin]

Firefoot wrote:

If Frodo failed, then failure was the only option there ever was. Because of the nature of the the Ring, it would have corrupted anyone who had borne it, some sooner than others.

Well, it is likely that failure *was* the only option there ever was for anyone trying to destroy the Ring who didn't happen to be Eru or a Vala. My own thought is that 'the power of Evil over Middle Earth' is an underlying theme of Tolkien's, so yes, Frodo is fated ('doomed'?) to give in to the Ring in the end. Consider how evil the ring was. It held much of Sauron's power, and Sauron was a Maia to begin with. Under Morgoth, it sounds like his power and strength increased as he learned more of the ways of Evil from his master. The example of Saruman shows that Sauron could overpower another Maia, even without his Ring. Hence Gandalf's fear of both Sauron and the Ring.

And recall Galadriel's little demonstration of what she would be like wielding the Ring in 'The Mirror of Galadriel'! She is also fully aware of the Ring's danger -- and so she should be, having with Celeborn "fought the long defeat" (i.e. the defeat of Elves and Men by Evil) through three Ages of Middle Earth. Even armed with her knowledge, the Ring's power tempts her, and it is with relief that she discovers she can resist it's call.

Of mortals, poor Boromir never had a chance against the Ring's power -- it 'ate his brain' pretty quickly. Aragorn and the members of the Fellowship who ended up in Rohan and Gondor were probably saved by their separation from Frodo and the Ring. Hobbits seem to have some innate ability to remain unscathed by the power the Ring exerted for longer than Men did: Gollum's brain got eaten, but he didn't fade into a wraith; Frodo did resist the Ring's power for as long as he could hold out; and Sam was affected the least. Whether because he was stubborn or naive, or because of his 'common sense' (which is actually pretty uncommon, lol), or because *his* Quest was to take care of Frodo, the Ring had relatively little attraction for him.

Frodo was able to resist the Ring for an unprecedented long time, but in the end, he was going to give in to its power, especially if the Ring was trying to resist its imminent destruction and Frodo was weak from physical and mental torture. I argue that he still conciously made the choice to give in. Frodo's later words and actions indicate that he was aware of what he was doing at the moment he claimed the Ring. "I failed", not "I couldn't take any more pain" or "I couldn't stop myself". The choice may have been prompted by deciding that he couldn't take whatever last-minute pain or pressure the Ring was exerting on him on Mount Doom, or it may have been that he finally snapped and thought 'Why shouldn't it be mine?? I brought it here!', but it was his decision to try to do the right thing and take the Ring (at the Coucil of Elrond) and it was his decision to claim the Ring for himself at the end. As luck (or Eru, depending on your opinion) would have it, Frodo's past choices in bringing Sam to Mordor and sparing Gollum's life now came to his aid, and thanks to Gollum's attack on him, he was spared the following consequences of claiming the Ring:

Total victory of Sauron, years of torture in Barad Dur, and the destruction of everyone and everything he once held dear.
OR

Being pushed by Eru (or maybe even Sam) into the Cracks of Doom himself in order to save Middle Earth from Sauron's dominion. Although I think Sam would have been so broken-hearted that he would have thrown himself in, too.