Yes... superbly (dare I say adequately?) defended carton!
Be at peace, Son of Gondor.
Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
BOROMIR:
It is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor! Why not use this ring? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay, by the blood of our people-- all your lands kept safe! Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him!
Also, when we meet these characters at the first, we can't telegraph the end on them. Meaning... when I am teaching during my acting classes, my actors may be on page 8 or 9 of the script and they begin to telegraph or react to what happens to their characters on page 32 or 33, I have to remind them that on page 8 your character doesn't have a clue that page 32 will happen to him. So, you have to play it as if you don't know.
So, to Boromir it was a weapon... it wasn't until he was appalled at his behavior concerning Frodo that he realized that Gandalf was right.
In Rivendell, Boromir was a good man who was desperate. At the end, at his hour of testing, he remained a good man. Well done, Boromir!
Sauruman is equally fascinating, and fails the same test, but is never willing to see himself for what he became.
/john
His best trait is his devotion to his people and city. Unfortunately this is also his downfall. There is a sense, in Tolkien, that what we most want is the thing that is most dangerous to us. Frodo originally wants only to live in the Shire; had he remained there after all that had happened to him, who knows what torment he might have gone through. We don't really need to spell out how bad Gollum's desire for the Ring was for him. In Silmarillion Feanor's desire for the silmaril wreaks havoc on Middle-Earth. Boromir is another example of this principle. He wants to save his city, so he doesn't really fight the call of the Ring, I think. It is playing on his greatest weakness.
Yes... superbly (dare I say adequately?) defended carton!
Be at peace, Son of Gondor.
I enjoyed the article you put up concerning the Norse roots used by Tolkien and their corruption by the Nazis.
It's slightly weird that the values we cherish, personal liberty and freedom, backed by a Judeo Christian sense of morality, can be traced through the Anglo Saxons back to Germany, the same area that "perfected" socialism, which I believe was a French invention.
I think Fang and Grip are still on the other side, so mushrooms ought to be safe.
Hopefully this thread will pass the other. It's a good thing being able to discuss these kind of things once in a while with people who aren't liberals.
Faithfully defended, I'd say. We can always trust Carton to defend hose the rest of us would rather bash, can't we? But would she defend Sauron?
Incidentally if anyone wants to chat I'm already there. :-)
Boromir has this all-consuming zeal for Gondor that he believes his birthright confers on him. No one can possibly understand the gravity of his responsibility to Gondor.
There is this haunting desperation in his desire to save it, as though some part of him wonders if he's up to the task.
You know, that's not a bad idea. I could use a little dip into fantasy right now; reality's not been so good to me lately.:)
Thanks for the invite!
You know, the fellowship should have tried using some Krupnik on those Orcs. Would've made their task a WHOLE lot easier.:)
So, I have learned that mercy and compassion are never out of line for those who failed. I have needed mercy and compassion on occasion.
Yes, Boromir was wrong to want the ring, but that one desire doesn't make him a villian. You can still fail and be a good man.
My Freeper name should tell you how I feel. Ever read A Tale of Two Cites? The Carton comes from Sydney Carton. Another good man with huge failings and weakness. And my favorite character in literature.
Personally I like the hero who gives up what he wants to do what he must do, and also the Sam-types, the sidekick who does incredible things out of love for the hero (platonic or romantic love, at this level, it doesn't matter). I guess my idea is that everyone has a hero inside of him - it's just some people never get the chance, and other turn the chance down.
But mostly, he's my favorite character in the books because he makes me laugh. And I never turn down a good laugh.
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