Why did Frodo feel he had to leave Middle Earth at the of ROTK? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 11-29-2003, 03:30 AM

Tolkien says in one of the letters that Frodo, in the end, felt like a 'broken failure'. He'd 'failed' in the three things he set out to do - destroy the Ring, save Gollum, & save the Shire - which, I feel is what finally broke him - seeing the place he loved, & had sacrificed so much to save, devastated, realising that though Sauron was gone & the Ring destroyed, still there was malice & evil in the world. Tolkien also says that Frodo had expected to die in achieving the Quest. Having to live on in such a broken state was impossible for him. My own feeling is that it was less a feeling of wanting to go into the West to be healed, & more a feeling that he couldn't stay in the world any longer; as he says to Gandalf "There's no real going back. The Shire may be the same, but I'm not the same". He couldn't go back to the old life, living with Bilbo in Bag End, going for walks among the woods & fields. He'd trancended those things, & the desire for them, but he didn't know anything else - apart from suffering. What else could he do but leave? What he says to Sam at the end, about how some people have to give up the things they love, so that others may keep them sums up his state, & Tolkien's own philosophy. If you get hold of Jobhn Garth's new book, Tolkien & the Great War, about Tolkien's own experiences in World War 1, & the effect it had on him & his fellow soldiers you can get a sense of what that kind of loss & suffering does to people.

[ 4:33 AM November 29, 2003: Message edited by: davem ]

11-29-2003, 03:30 AM	#8
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Tolkien says in one of the letters that Frodo, in the end, felt like a 'broken failure'. He'd 'failed' in the three things he set out to do - destroy the Ring, save Gollum, & save the Shire - which, I feel is what finally broke him - seeing the place he loved, & had sacrificed so much to save, devastated, realising that though Sauron was gone & the Ring destroyed, still there was malice & evil in the world. Tolkien also says that Frodo had expected to die in achieving the Quest. Having to live on in such a broken state was impossible for him. My own feeling is that it was less a feeling of wanting to go into the West to be healed, & more a feeling that he couldn't stay in the world any longer; as he says to Gandalf "There's no real going back. The Shire may be the same, but I'm not the same". He couldn't go back to the old life, living with Bilbo in Bag End, going for walks among the woods & fields. He'd trancended those things, & the desire for them, but he didn't know anything else - apart from suffering. What else could he do but leave? What he says to Sam at the end, about how some people have to give up the things they love, so that others may keep them sums up his state, & Tolkien's own philosophy. If you get hold of Jobhn Garth's new book, Tolkien & the Great War, about Tolkien's own experiences in World War 1, & the effect it had on him & his fellow soldiers you can get a sense of what that kind of loss & suffering does to people. [ 4:33 AM November 29, 2003: Message edited by: davem ] __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."