The Consequences of the Events at Mount Doom

[Arathiriel]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but I had a thought the other night about Frodo's actions at Mount Doom, specifically when he said the following:

'I have come,' he said. 'But I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!'

Now my question is: If Frodo hadn't said what he did there, and if he hadn't claimed the Ring as his own, would he still have had to leave ME for Valinor? I mean would his wounds and all the darkness he confronted - would it have haunted him still so deeply had he casted the Ring into the Cracks of Doom of his own free will?

I am not so sure after rereading this quote from Gandalf in "Thw Shadow of the Past" in the FOTR:

'As long as you never used it, I did not think that the Ring would have any lasting effect on you, not for evil, not at any rate for a very long time.'

So I wonder was Frodo's pain and anguish he felt before he left for the Blessed Realm, a consequence for his one moment of weakness and his inability to destroy the Ring when the time came?

Had he just casted the Ring into the Cracks of Mount Doom, could he have returned to his life in the Shire without being haunted and in pain? Could he have had a 'normal' life there in the Shire instead of having to leave?

What's your opinions on this?

[ October 11, 2002: Message edited by: Arathiriel ]