Lord of the Rings' True Heroes - Book Report/Review Example

Lord of the Rings: The True Hero as Hobbit or Man J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic adventure collectively en d The Lord of the Rings has been examined by critics and fans alike from a variety of viewpoints, approaches and assumptions. It has been argued that he was writing a religious adventure, with parallels drawn between Tolkien’s Catholic faith and the biblical analogies made throughout the text. It has also been argued, as convincingly, that his goal was to bring attention to environmental concerns, illustrating the dichotomy between the nature-nurturing elves that remained a force of good and the nature-destroying and nature-altering evil of Sauron’s armies. Political concepts related to the novel have abounded, including everything from an examination of the relationship of steward/king to kingdom and an analogy drawn between the events of the trilogy and the personalities of Joseph Stalin and the West. Perhaps most often, though, the trilogy is used to illustrate the nature of what is meant when we think of the concept of the ‘hero’. The word “hero” is defined in several ways. In mythology, a hero is often defined as a man with divine ancestry who demonstrates great strength, physically and morally, and great courage. He is typically celebrated for accomplishing impossible deeds, sometimes for the betterment of mankind, and is always favored by the gods, or at least a majority of them. A hero is also a person who gains notoriety as a result of showing great courage or nobility of purpose in the accomplishment of a deed or a lifetime. Those who gain greatest notoriety are those who have risked their own lives to save the lives of others. In the story, there are a number of characters who emerge as an example of a true hero including Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Aragorn and Arwen with several minor characters showing definite heroic tendencies. Frodo Baggins easily falls within the category of a hero because he steps up to take on the burden of the ring even after he has been nearly killed just for trying to get it to the elves and knows the heavy price it will inflict on his soul. His greatest wish once he reaches Rivendell and regains his health is to return to his comfortable home in Hobbiton and spend his days eating, smoking his pipe and joining his friends in the Hobbiton tavern. While he does not have any family or sweetheart to return home to, he is not a hobbit infected with the wanderlust that had infected his uncle Bilbo and has no desire to acquire the same kind of dubious reputation Bilbo had among his neighbors. The beginning of Frodo’s trip is also sufficiently frightening to encourage the small hobbit to return home as he is first nearly murdered in Bree, escaping only through a lucky meeting with Aragorn posing as a wanderer named Strider. He also encounters the Ringwraiths between Bree and Rivendell, giving him a firm understanding of what it means to be the bearer of the ring. His encounter with Bilbo in Rivendell reveals to him the long-term cost of carrying the ring, understanding that even once he is rid of it, the desire for the ring itself will probably always haunt him. Despite this, when he hears the members of the fellowship talking about what must be done to destroy the ring, he discovers he is unable to pass this responsibility off onto others. Finally, even knowing the dangers of continuing on his quest, having come face to face with orcs and other creatures seeking his destruction, Frodo chooses to continue his journey alone rather than risk the souls of his companions being lost to the lure of the ring. He only takes Sam with him because he cannot leave him behind. Frodo is heroic in his self-sacrifice with no thought of reward or even true belief in success. Samwise Gamgee is another hero in the story in his steadfast dedication to his friend. He realizes he is little more than a simple gardener’s son and that he is limited in his critical thinking skills, yet he proves to be wiser beyond knowledge in his service to Frodo. Although he marks the farthest he’s ever been from home before and does have a girl back home to dream about, he doggedly follows Frodo wherever he will go, whether its to Rivendell and back again or all the way to the fiery furnace of Mordor. He, too, overcomes his natural inclinations for the comforts of home in order to serve his friend and social superior. He takes Gandalf’s appointment as Frodo’s guardian to heart and does it to the best of his ability, barely sleeping at all while Frodo is on the mend following the attack on Weathertop and, despite having all his wildest ambitions fulfilled in seeing the elves, continues to follow Frodo on his dangerous quest to destroy the one ring. As the party is attacked outside Gondor, Sam is the only one who realizes the particular danger to Frodo and goes in search of him particularly. Proving he’s willing to risk death itself rather than allow Frodo to make this journey alone, Sam bravely wades deep into the water despite the fact that he doesn’t know how to swim. Frodo is left with only the choice to let his friend drown or to take him with him. As the two hobbits make their way toward Mordor, they encounter the ring-possessed creature Gollum and, despite his correct understanding of Gollum as a potential threat to Frodo, Sam accedes to Frodo’s wishes to have the creature guide them into the lands of Mordor. He stoutly serves Frodo with the last of the food packs they have and continues to follow even when he’s been sent away by a manipulated and exhausted Frodo, facing down a number of evil creatures to protect Frodo and his task from the monsters of Mordor. In his steady heart and unfailing loyalty, Samwise Gamgee is undeniably a hero of friendship. Perhaps the character most often associated with the idea of the hero is Aragorn himself, the man who emerges as the true King of Gondor and the hope of all mankind. Posing as Strider at the beginning of the series, Aragorn has little of the heroic about him, choosing to remain hidden in obscurity rather than risk taking on the responsibility of his birthright despite the fact that Gondor desperately needs him. In the tavern in Bree, however, he takes immediate action upon seeing the hobbits and their troubles to whisk them out of sight and into a safer room than the one they’d been given, getting them quickly out of the human town and out into the wilderness, attempting to get them to the land of the Elves before the Ringwraiths can catch up with them. Although he is unsuccessful in keeping Frodo protected, this is not entirely his fault as Frodo, in his fear, slips the ring on his finger and makes himself visible to the Ringwraiths to an even greater extent than Pippin and Merry have by lighting a fire on top of Weathertop. Despite his weaknesses, Aragorn demonstrates a loyal heart in his devotion to Arwen and a dedication to duty in his refusal to accept her advances, knowing she has a duty to follow her people to the far shores rather than stay in Middle Earth with him. While on the journey toward Gondor, Aragorn continues to stand fast against any temptation of the ring which is thrown into sharper contrast with the susceptibility to it shown by Boromir. Rather than attempting to pursue Frodo when he departs the company, Aragorn struggles instead to continue holding off the monsters to give him a better chance to escape and turns the party’s attention to finding the missing two hobbits, Pippin and Merry. As they prepare for the final battle, Aragorn’s true nobility begins to shine through as he convinces Rohan to come should Gondor call and then takes charge within the mountain to summon the traitors of old to fulfill their vow. By the time he finally takes his crown, Aragorn has proven himself a hero in nobility, loyalty, generosity and wisdom. One character that is perhaps not often identified as being a hero is the Elven maiden Arwen. Her love for Aragorn is undeniable, but the Elves are leaving Middle Earth and, as a princess of the elves, she is bound to travel with her father Elrond to the far shore. Although she knows she will either wither and die like the humans or suffer an endless despair following a brief period of happiness once Aragorn finally dies, Arwen cannot bring herself to leave Middle Earth, particularly when she receives a premonition of the child she will someday bear to Aragorn. Her refusal to leave places her in immediate danger of death should Sauron prevail and win the ring back from Frodo as well as places her in direct opposition to her father, yet she prevails anyway, choosing to remain true to her heart rather than take the sure way to salvation with her people. In facing down her father regarding her decision, she convinces him to reforge the sword that had been broken and thus plays a significant role in the salvation of mankind. This is because, without the sword, Aragorn would not have been able to summon the traitors to his side and with them, mankind would not have been successful against the hordes of Mordor. In this, Arwen is a hero of the heart, remaining true to herself for the good of all despite her father’s and her lover’s urgings for her to preserve herself in some safe, far away place where Sauron could never touch her. There are numerous heroic leanings among the lesser characters as well as those discussed here. Pippin and Merry, for instance, never cease in their attempts to help Frodo in whatever way they can. As a result, they manage to convince the Ents to enter the battle against Saruman, bringing down the white tower and weakening one of Sauron’s centers of power and play critical roles in the battle against evil held within the citadel of Minas Tirith and the Pelennor Fields. They don’t allow size to get in their way and frequently must battle friend and foe alike in bringing about the significant changes they do. Likewise, Smeagol can be seen as a hero as he manages to overcome the insane rhetoric of Gollum, frequently bringing himself to act in accordance with the carefree hobbit he was at one time long ago rather than in keeping with the evil Gollum that had come to possess him with the introduction of the ring. It can even be argued that his last final attempt to snatch the ring from Frodo was a purposeful abandonment by Smeagol to the evil of Gollum after he recognized it was the only way to save the one person in the entire world willing to take a change on him. Boromir, often vilified for being overcome by the ring, also manages to evoke a sense of the hero as he battles with himself to overcome his feelings and heroically fights a losing battle against the orcs to try to save Pippin and Merry. Throughout the series, then, there are several examples of what makes a true hero from a variety of viewpoints. Whether one approaches the story from a Christian, environmental, political or some other perspective, one is bound to find a character that speaks of the true nature of the hero in that realm. The spiritual heroism of Frodo, the loyal heroism of Samwise, the noble heroism of Aragorn and the feminist heroism of Arwen all illustrate that being a hero is an individual thing that depends not only upon the situation one finds oneself in, but also the personality, influences and constraints of the individual. Read More