Failure and Punishment

[cellurdur]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

The idea of Frodo deserving his pains and misfortunes derived from his experience with the Ring is rubbish.
It was a burden too great for him, as indeed for any in Middle-earth, or any whose innate spiritual power was inferior to Sauron's. Frodo's "failure" was really in his own mind, and no guilt was ever laid on him by anyone in the books: least of all Gandalf, surely the spokesman for for the Valar (and by proxy, the One). Gandalf, in Rivendell, did not judge Frodo for using the Ring on Weathertop, and nothing was ever said about his refusal to throw away the Ring into the Fire. Gandalf understood. If Frodo's "failure" really was due to his own moral weakness, and he had not utterly expended his body and will in resisting the Ring's power, then surely his sojourn into the West would have been disallowed.

I agree completely and it's sad that Frodo was never given the respect he deserved by the other Hobbits. They sadly could not see the bigger picture and what Frodo had sacrificed and done for not only the Shire, but the world. I do find it terribly ironic that the films also don't give Frodo the credit he deserves, and casual fans of the movies regard him as a failure and weak.

[Lotrelf]

Originally Posted by cellurdur

I agree completely and it's sad that Frodo was never given the respect he deserved by the other Hobbits. They sadly could not see the bigger picture and what Frodo had sacrificed and done for not only the Shire, but the world. I do find it terribly ironic that the films also don't give Frodo the credit he deserves, and casual fans of the movies regard him as a failure and weak.

Movies focus on him in the end only. On not getting credit in the Shire, you can consider it another way too: He had grown beyond any Hobbit/Human stature and become something like Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond. Shire-folk kind of detested Gandalf and didn't care much of the Elves. They didn't realize the big picture, this was better for them. Frodo's fading from the mortal world made him more susceptible to the spiritual world. That, IMHO, isn't a punishment, but a reward.