Who wins in the end?

I first discovered Lord of the Rings when I was about 10 years old, and started with The Hobbit, then went on to the other books and movies. One of the things that I did not always consider important when I first read was the journey, I tended to focus on the end result, and not all of the things that happened to get there. Looking back at the books after I have gained some age, I see many of the different things about the journey in a different light. Frodo and Sam are much more interesting characters when looking at it as someone who is older. The first thing that stood out to me was the Sam and Frodo relationship. Sam supports Frodo in so many ways along the journey, but does not always seem to get the same back. As the journey goes along we clearly see the relationship grow from Frodo’s side but never at the same level as Sam. I think the reason for this is on both sides, they never quite get over the master/servant relationship. I think it is a hard barrier to cross over, and while they were closer than when they started, the remnants of that relationship was still there by the end. 

One thing that always confused me about the story was why was Frodo the one who could resist the ring and take it to be destroyed. I guess one could say it could be anyone, so why not Frodo, but I guess what I am trying to really ask is why not some of the other characters in the stories. It seems like someone like a Gandalf or an Aragorn would make a great pick to take the ring and resist its powers, or even someone like a Legolas or Gimli. So why not them? They are part of the fellowship and do help Frodo in the beginning of his journey, but from what we know about the ring it is pretty clear that they would have been more tempted by it than Frodo and would not have made it as far. At one point Aragorn comes to a crossroads and has trouble deciding on whether to follow Frodo and Sam, or to save Merry and Pippin, and decides to let Frodo handle destroying the ring alone, partially because it was what Frodo wanted, but also partially because he thought he could be tempted. It is very rare to see a character such as Aragorn unable to resist evil (or at least think he cannot resist), while someone like Frodo could, and honestly it baffled me. It was not until I reexamined the books that I realized how much of a toll the ring took on Frodo, and I realized that he failed in the end. 

The fact that he failed in the end is important and interesting for a couple of reasons. The first is that the story kind of follows the opposite trajectory of what we are used to in stories. In the beginning Frodo is stronger, and is able to avoid the temptation of the ring easier, but as the story progresses he ability to resist shrinks and he is left with a failure at the end. The story reminds me of the Thor Marvel movies. In Thor’s first movie we learn about his hammer, and that you have to be true of heart to wield it, in the beginning of the movie Thor loses his ability to pick up the hammer. And throughout the movie many attempt to pick up the hammer but cannot, basically like a modern day sword in the stone. But in the end Thor has the traditional hero’s journey and is able to pick up the hammer. Frodo is the exact opposite. While he may be the only one up for the task like Thor, when it comes to the moment where he needs his strength the most, and he needs to resist the evil of the ring, he is unable to do it. 

It is honestly quite distressing because if the best of us cannot resist evil at its height it begs the question of can anyone resist evil. As we have talked about in class I do not think Tolkien was attempting to show us through this that no one can resist evil, or even something like no one can resist evil without God, but I do find it interesting that at the end of the story, even though evil loses, it does not feel like the good wins. This is compelling because to most it may seem that because evil lost, and the goal of good here is to defeat evil, that by virtue of this good won. But I disagree with the notion that good is just the failure of evil. I think this is why at the end of the story it does not quite feel like success for Frodo. He set out to destroy the ring, and claimed to be the one that could do it, but he was wrong. When it came down to it at the end he was unable to do what he set out to do, and this does not quite leave the reader feeling hopeful in the end. At least to me, the fact that luck plays a factor in the defeat of evil does not sit well.

-RL (Bonus)