Silmarillion - Chapter 21 - Of Túrin Turambar

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

So many places where Túrin could have turned away and made the curse more problematic for Morgoth, and yet he played right into Morgoth's hands. That, to me, is the real tragedy of the story.

Isn't that sort of how tragedies normally work in literature, though? Although the "fatal flaw" way of describing Hamlet or Macbeth is too much of an oversimplification, nonetheless it is clearly their own actions that lead up to their fall, a fall that was not unavoidable. Rather, it is a clear series of choices that lead to the tragedy. To take Macbeth as an example (if only because it is fresher in my mind), the witches certainly manipulate him, but he chooses to kill Duncan, chooses to kill Banquo, and chooses to kill Macduff's family. He is led to each of these conclusions only in part by the words of the witches--the interpretation all comes from him.

In like manner, Túrin chooses each of the actions that makes the curse more operative, rather than less, and the tragedy of the Narn is precisely that Morgoth's curse worked hand-in-hand with Túrin's own actions.

Like Galadriel55, this does not make me lose all sympathy for Túrin--if anything, I sympathize with him more because of it, because his repeated failures are what bring him down to a sympathetic level. Túrin without his drastic miscalculations would leave us with Boromir as he seemed at the Council of Elrond: brash, over-confident, full of himself--but even more so. Túrin is dislikable because of his successes: he is the greatest warrior, a convincing leader, a charismatic figure about to make whole nations change their polices. If Túrin were successful in these endeavours, he would be insufferable; the fact that his choices are so wrong (despite what we know are fairly noble, if over-proud, intentions) is what makes him a tragic figure.

Mind you, although I find him sympathetic, I would not go so far as to say that I "like" the guy.