Was Boromir a mistake?

[Child of the 7th Age]

Boromir88,

But, I think there's more to it than that, Boromir's there to cause what is MENT to happen, which is the break-up of the Fellowship. Frodo knows he has to leave, but he can't commit to it, and it's Boromir trying to take the Ring that gets Frodo nudged over the edge and realize "I need to get out of here, before this breaks the Fellowship."

I'm uncomfortable with what you've said here. Just how much was "preordained" in LotR? Some things yes, and other things were likely, but in many cases people had a choice.

Boromir had a choice. I truly believe that. He had the choice to say no to the temptation of the Ring. In that limited sense, he definitely failed since he did not say no. He had a second choice: to come to the aid of the hobbits and to feel real sorrow for what he had just done. In terms of that second choice, he prevailed and succeeded.

If we say something was "meant" to happen, it takes away the force of Boromir's moral decision. I think that is central to his character and indeed to the whole meaning of the story. There are points in the story when the greater powers seem to place a tiny unnnoticed finger on the scale and tilt the action in favor of the good guys. Perhaps a stream pops up out of nowhere in Mordor or Gandalf mentions that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. But such instances are rare. Moral choice rather than that which is ordained is still, in my opinion, the critical factor in the tale.

Who knows what Boromir's position within the fellowship might have been if he had passed the test of the first choice....