What is your heroic ideal? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Eorl of Rohan · 04-23-2010, 04:10 AM

Wow. It's amazing how people read the same book and come up with so many different and colorful interpretations of the text. Even something as predictable as 'who do you think is the hero?' comes up with so many varied answers: Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Beleg, Turin, Feanor, Faramir, Boromir, Fingolfin, Gandalf...

And as for Frodo, I must admit that I never thought of him as a hero, which is strange because he is the de facto main character and the ringbearer with the fate of middle-earth on his shoulders. In my mind heroes (1) either die tragically in the moment of their victory, or (2) courageously live on after their adventure is over. Instead, Frodo is broken forever. Examples of (1) are King Theoden or Boromir. Examples of (2) are Sam, who marries (I do not remember her name, but a cute holbytlan lass) and settles down to a quiet and happy domestic life, and King Elessar and Faramir as well. However, the cycle of life is denied to Frodo; he does not die or live on, but exists as a grey wraith, a scar on his heart that will never heal.
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04-23-2010, 04:10 AM	#25
Eorl of Rohan Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Seoul, South Korea Posts: 602	Wow. It's amazing how people read the same book and come up with so many different and colorful interpretations of the text. Even something as predictable as 'who do you think is the hero?' comes up with so many varied answers: Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Beleg, Turin, Feanor, Faramir, Boromir, Fingolfin, Gandalf... And as for Frodo, I must admit that I never thought of him as a hero, which is strange because he is the de facto main character and the ringbearer with the fate of middle-earth on his shoulders. In my mind heroes (1) either die tragically in the moment of their victory, or (2) courageously live on after their adventure is over. Instead, Frodo is broken forever. Examples of (1) are King Theoden or Boromir. Examples of (2) are Sam, who marries (I do not remember her name, but a cute holbytlan lass) and settles down to a quiet and happy domestic life, and King Elessar and Faramir as well. However, the cycle of life is denied to Frodo; he does not die or live on, but exists as a grey wraith, a scar on his heart that will never heal. , Last edited by Eorl of Rohan; 04-24-2010 at 05:00 PM.