When the Lord of the Rings begins, we see almost everything from Frodo's perspective, through Frodo's eyes. But after as Frodo and Sam leave the Fellowship, and their separate journey with the One Ring proceeds, the point of view shifts from Frodo to Sam.
One consequence is that the situation of Frodo's paralysis by Shelob, the ring being taken from the apparently-dead Frodo by Sam while he is only unconscious; and then Frodo's capture, imprisonment and torment in Cirith Ungol - are all seen from the perspective of Sam; who is trying to find and rescue Frodo.
We therefore hear about Frodo's response to the (apparent) utter hopelessness of his situation; only after he has already been rescued by Sam. And Frodo's desolation at the loss of The Ring is described only for a few moments before Sam returns it to him.
‘They’ve taken everything, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘Everything I had. Do you understand? Everything!’ He cowered on the floor again with bowed head, as his own words brought home to him the fullness of the disaster, and despair overwhelmed him. ‘The quest has failed, Sam. Even if we get out of here, we can’t escape. Only Elves can escape. Away, away out of Middle-earth, far away over the Sea. If even that is wide enough to keep the Shadow out.’
Frodo's despair at losing The Ring is depicted while the reader is aware that The Ring is not incipiently in Sauron's hands, but is in Sam's possession, in the room and right in front of Frodo.
So, for us, Frodo's cry of desolation is tinged with irony, and we realize that this misery will be brief. We don't, therefore, appreciate the full impact of Frodo's earlier situation - as it was experienced by Frodo at the time.
But if we imagine how matters seemed to Frodo, just a few minutes before this scene; it is apparent that here again is one of those situations in Lord of the Rings where there is apparently no hope at all...
After all; Frodo is in Mordor - far from any possibility of help; in a fortress full of hundreds of orcs who all hate him; and are arguing whether to torture him immediately; or obey orders and send Frodo to the impregnable Dark Tower where he will encounter Sauron himself.
Meanwhile, Frodo is sick from Shelob's venom, stripped and whipped and taunted incessantly; and worst of all he has the "knowledge" of having failed his friends and the world and lost the "precious" One Ring that has a terrible and addictive grip upon him.
It is hard to imagine a more validly despair-inducing situation; a situation more genuinely hope-less. And yet that estimate of "no hope" turns-out to be wrong, a factually incorrect assumption.
Of course; the situation is fictional. But it is nonetheless true. By this point in the story, we are reading Lord of the Rings exactly because of its truth, because its characters and situations are real. So, the mistaken nature of Frodo's despair is a genuine life-lesson for us; if we care to learn from it.
The lesson that we ought never to despair: and never means never, no matter what.
At the practical level, we should never give up hope because we never know all the relevant facts - and some of what we don't know may make all the difference.
At the deepest level, we should never give up hope because we inhabit the divine creation of a good and loving God - and therefore we always can and will be helped ultimately...
We will be helped, that is, as long as we have not given-up hope...
Because despair is a rejection of the reality of divine creative goodness; and despair is what cuts us off from divine providence.
By despairing; we choose to believe that God cannot help us (or does not want to help us) and thereby we place our-selves beyond reach of God's help...
As we see elsewhere, with the self-chosen fate of Denethor - we actively embraces despair, and from doing so embraces evil, and does the work of Sauron.
Significantly; it was Denethor's vision of Frodo's captivity in the Palantir - true, yet incomplete as it was - that was what finally broke his spirit, and destroyed his last hope.
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