Who Was the Hero?

[Nessa]

I have seen this topic discussed everywhere and I'd like to talk about it here, too! :)

Who, in your opinion, was the hero?

Some would say Frodo, who carried the Ring to the very Cracks of Doom before giving in to its power, he did not destroy it.... but by his compassion Gollum lived to....

Others would say Sam, who Frodo undoubtedly could not have survived without.....

Still others would say Gollum, whose lust for the Ring lead to its (and his own) destruction....

What do you all think?

[Catz]

i think, and this is only my personal opinion, that JRR intended the hero of the piece to be the Christian values (OK, so the characters arent Christians, bu he was and he gave them a very Christian value set) which allowed things to come to pass as they did....Frodos mercy, Gollum finding redeemption, of a sort, at the end, Sams ;oyalty and bravery.
There is no religion mentioned in LOTR, but its there anyway, albeit in a deeper form, in the moral systems and codes of behaviour of the characters, as deeply ingrained there as it was in JRR's life.
:catz:

[A! Elbereth]

I totally agree Catz! I couldnt have put it better myself! I never even thought of that! Yes, I thought it had to do with Christianity in a sense, but not that way.:thumbs:

[Bawax]

Sam was the hero in my opinion.

that would be with matters concerning the destroying of the ring, if you took "heros"from all different matters i think you could pick out dozens.

eowyn, eomer, aragorn, merry, frodo, gandalf, pippin. the list could go on for ages. :)

[Nessa]

I know what you mean, bawax, but I meant the destroying of the ring itself. Not too clear, was I? Sorry. :grin:

[Bawax]

:grin:

i thought so, i would still say Sam, he was such a huge support to frodo and really changed from a homely gardener to probably the hardiest of all the hobbits in my opinion. :)

[Black Rider]

Sam was deffinitely the foundation in the Quest after the Fellowship broke apart. he supported Frodo when Frodo's burden got heavier. i dont think Frodo could have gone very far without him

[Algamesh]

But ... in a similar fashion, the quest would have went nowhere without Gollum's involvment now would it?

I don't know if it's even applicable to this story to attempt to choose a hero. In most traditional fairy tales, the hero is clearly defined --- the Knight who slays the dragon, right?

I think this is why LOTR mimicks the actual world --- we can't separate the heros due to the fact that every action relies on a previous action. Frodo's journey to Orodruin was facilitated by many people along the way. Without each, the Quest would have failed. I think the forces of good were all "equally heroic" because failure to complete the Quest would have led to equal destruction.

Having said this ... one can apply a literary analysis to the story involving different classifications of Hero. One can distinguish, through literary devices, the "High" hero from the "Middle" hero for instance. An example of a "High" hero would be Aragorn. He possesses the traits and the background of the traditional fantasy hero --- born nobility, stoic, warrior-type, etc. etc. A "Middle" hero is represented by Samwise --- working class, carried by the flow of Fate, matures into the hero, etc.

There is a good discussion of this on my website and I'll go ahead and include a link here. I would restate it, but, the people involved in the initial conversation are beyond me ;) and it would be better to see the original so I don't foul it up ... hehehe!

http://groups.msn.com/tolkiensring/thelotrtrilogy.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=388&LastModified=4675383154824278211

[Ringwraith]

Sam.
His loyalty is beyond description, and I wouldn't be suprised if he threw himself right into Mount Doom just to destroy the Ring and save Frodo.

[A! Elbereth]

I stick with Frodo being the hero. Are hero's made by them completing their task? Yes, sam completed his, and so did the others, But Frodo at least tried, and the fact that he did not give up, until the very end (at least) was heroic to me.

Think of a member of the army, in a bomber plane. They save a some lives, and then get shot down by the enemy. Was he not a hero?

I actually think the Hero may be Frodo and Sam, but if I had to pick it would be Frodo still. Besides, Peter did say here was the hero.

[A! Elbereth]

What I meant there when I said Yes, sam..... I wasnt answering the question.

[TheRingBearer]

I have to say Frodo. I mean he was the only one with the willpower to resist the rings corruption and it is so sad that he gets next to nothing recognition for his entire quest.

[Nessa the Dancer]

Oh dear THAT question again I've had countless arguments about this. On one forum we managed to argue it down to Mr Gravity being the actual hero in the end.

I tend to take the diplomatic view (Im a Libra).

If this were a conventional hero story then Frodo would be the hero along with Sam.

But I don't think Tolkien aimed for a hero end to the story at all, he wanted a justice end which imlpicates Gollum. He took a life for the Ring and then the Ring took his life. It just so happened that it was the best thing he could have done because Frodo was to deep in the power of the Ring to do the final deed. Bearing in mind that he never would have got the Mountian withoute Sam, I think that if Tolkien had intened a hero end, we can call it a joint effort and say we have three heroes.

That is a Libra's way of getting out of a situation

Nessa the Dancer

[Undomiel]

I agree with the joint effort thing and also with the fact that there are so many points at which the quest would have failed without heroic action from someone. I could never really pick a hero out of those three, they are a combined hero in the destruction of the ring. If one of them had been absent the ring wouldn't have been destroyed, so you can't really separate them.

[Nessa]

Everyone has so many great thoughts, thank you. :)

Nessa the Dancer! lol lol roflmao

I'm libra too (but you knew that)! And what you said pretty much summed up my whole opinion. Odd... I've never held much truth to astrology....

Anyway, I agree.

[Dernhelm]

I think that there are 3 major heros of equal importants, but I agree that it is the values that Tolkien believed in that are the foundation for identifying what is and is not heroric. As far as characters go, my picks are: Aragorn, Frodo and Sam. Here's why I think that:

Aragorn: Aragorn more than any other character was the very emobidment of discipline, moral and physical courage and faith. I love it that he represents the very opposite of immediant self-gratification. He is truly amazing that at such a young age he knew that he could be a king, but not that he should be king. He was willing to subject himself to hard training with out the comforts of life - and he did it without whining about it. On top of having a dubios destiny, he fell in love with a woman that he had no idea if or when he was ever going to be with.

Frodo: What can I say about him? As soon as he learns about the true nature of the ring, Frodo immediantly volunteers to basically become a homeless wanderer. Just like that. No more Shire, no more Bag End. He knew he had no courage. He knew he had no strength, but he put that aside to lay down his life for his fellow hobbits and Middle Earth as well. I do not see what happened at the cracks of Doom as some moral failing on his part, but rather a simple acknowledgment that he was a mortal who had come to the end of his strength because the ring had that much power to destroy.

Sam: There is no doubt that loyal, faithful friend Sam is just as responsible for the mission being accomplished. Sam reminds all of us that the power of love is stronger than hate. I cannot even begin to imagine the physical suffering that Sam endured to help Frodo stay alive and functioning.

[A! Elbereth]

What you just said fully reminded me how great and overwhelming the story is! :loveyou: I MUST read it again.... NOW!

[Dernhelm]

LOL! Me too!

[Pil]

I think it's tempting to say frodo...but i keep getting a niggling in my head to mention aragorn. because of him...the world of men was reunited...no longer 'scattered, divided, leaderless'...but I NO! I NO! without frodo, gollum and sam there would have been no world FOR him to rule in....just thought he deserved a mention... :huh: :read:

[Mithrandir]

Sam was.
Sam is always there for Frodo. Sam had enough strength to resist the ring. The books end with Sam saying that he's back... It's all about Sam, I tell you!

[A! Elbereth]

I am going with what Tolkien said. Frodo was the main hero, but there were more than one hero in the books. Who's answer could be better than from the author himself? :thumbs:

[Pil]

But i don't think he really meant that FRODO WAS NUMBER ONE ALL HAIL FRODO (though i can think of some who DO mean that! :) )

[Finrod Felagund]

I choose ...
.
.
.
.
.
.
Legolas...:trout:

all kidding aside:
Sam gets my vote
he's even more of an underdog than Frodo,
never complained about his lot or situation except not having the proper equipment. I think if Sam had the Ring there would have been much less drama.
I too believe he was the strongest of the Hobbits.
Then again...

[A! Elbereth]

Originally posted by Pil
But i don't think he really meant that FRODO WAS NUMBER ONE ALL HAIL FRODO (though i can think of some who DO mean that! :) )

I ment to say that Frodo was the most important hero. But even that can be debated. Its all about the perspective of the reader themselves. Even though Tolkien probably had the true answer, its fun to be able to have the hero be who you want them to be.:thumbs:

[Bonos-Girl]

the thing is that we can't pick one person and say that they were the one person that saved the world.....if bilbo had never picked up the ring then it would never have passed to frodo and started the chain.....hang on, just had a thought.....i think that the ring was the hero....most of the stuff that happened was because of the will of the ring.....yep...the ring gats my vote...