The Fellowship's True Purpose?

[gorthaur_cruel]

Gandalf trusted in providence ...

Yeah, that was what I believed. "The only logical explanations are that Gandalf was a dolt, or his Maia foresight told him that sending Frodo on this quest would turn out to be good. Gandalf is personally my favorite character, so I'll take choice #2, but he does seem to have some holes..."

But I still think relying 100% on providence is wrong, when all the 'logical' explanations say that Frodo would fail.

And of course the quest was supposed to fail, or well, was a "desperate task."

True, but wouldn't it have been better to use the Ring then? Then Sauron could be defeated, and then they could worry about the new guy next. Maybe the new Ring-user would take a while to become corrupted. After all, Bilbo did last 60 years, and still didn't show too much signs of becoming corrupted.

For some added info on Boromir, I have read this interesting little discussion topic. But, Boromir took the ring, in thought that it wouldn't corrupt the righteous, it's not that he wanted it for himself (eventhough once he had it he would have taken it for himself). But his thought was it wouldn't be able to corrupt "the righteous" people. And here is a quote from The Council of Elrond.

That's why I support Boromir. He knew that the Quest had a 99% chance of failure, while using the Ring to defeat Sauron had a 99% chance of success. He believed that strong Men wouldn't be corrupted, so he disregarded the "second Sauron" thing. His main goal was to defeat Sauron, and whatever happens after would happen.

But, actually, Boromir did want it for himself, though he suggested Aragorn first (he believed himself to be one of those "strong Men").

'Or if he refuses, why not Boromir? The Ring would give me power of Command. How I would drive the hosts of Mordor, and all men would flock to my banner!'