On my latest slow read-through of Lord of the Rings; I noticed for the first time, a very clear and striking depiction of the way that the One Ring had corrupted almost the entire Fellowship by the time they reach the Falls of Rauros and must decide whether to turn west towards Minas Tirith, or east towards Mordor.
This is apparent from the fact that - except for Sam, every single one of the Fellowship who express an opinion - Aragorn, Merry, Pippin, Legolas, Gimli - as well as (obviously!) Boromir - say they would choose to turn west and go to Minas Tirith.
"[Frodo] is debating which course is the most desperate, I think,’ said Aragorn*. ‘And well he may. It is now more hopeless than ever for the Company to go east, since we have been tracked by Gollum, and must fear that the secret of our journey is already betrayed."
[Legolas said:] "I should vote for Minas Tirith."
"And so should I,’ said Gimli. "... I would choose Minas Tirith
[Merry:] "It would be mad and cruel to let Frodo go to Mordor. Why can’t we stop him?"
"We must stop him," said Pippin. "He knows we shan’t agree to his going east".
Sam is the only one in this debate who sees matters clearly and aright: "What’s the good of Minas Tirith anyway?"
Going west to Minas Tirith is the wrong decision, and contradicts the plan by which the Fellowship set out.
Yet it is evident that all of the Fellowship except Frodo and Sam have been at-least indirectly (and, in the case of Boromir, directly) corrupted by The Ring, into wanting to change the plans to go to Minas Tirith.
Again excepting Boromir; all members of the Fellowship pledge to follow Frodo east to Mordor, if that is Frodo's choice. But my point is that all the company (except Sam) state that they would choose instead to go west. They believe west is the correct choice.
They say this despite that going to Minas Tirith would be a change of plan that does nothing towards achieving the the objective of the Quest ("What's the good of Minas Tirith anyway?"), and instead adds further delay to an already critically delayed quest.
Furthermore; there is a high probability of disaster from bringing The Ring into a fortress full of Men who are by-far that race most susceptible to temptation and corruption from the Rings of Power (examples include Isildur, Boromir, and Denethor - and the Ringwraiths).
Getting the One Ring out from Minas Tirith might well have proved impossible - if once it had been carried into that citadel.
I think we can infer that this loss of mission-clarity at such a critical point of the quest is likely to be effect of the proximity to the ring, as Frodo guesses ("This at least is plain: the evil of the Ring is already at work even in the Company, and the Ring must leave them before it does more harm.").
The only members of the Fellowship who resist the evil of The Ring, and remain clear-headed about what needs to be done, are Frodo and Sam - who are, of course, those who actually embark-upon and succeed-in the quest.
It is evident that divine providence did well in choosing these two as the only members of the Fellowship who set forth east! Only their un-muddled and single-minded commitment to the job in hand was sufficient for its completion (and, even then, only with the ambivalent/ inadvertent "help" of Smeagol/ Gollum).
The presence of anyone else than Frodo and Sam on the eastward journey to Mordor; might fatally have clouded the mission.
*Aragorn is probably not "corrupted" by The Ring; but feels strongly the pull of a personal destiny that draws him towards Minas Tirith. Thus he is sufficiently confused - perhaps by the action of The Ring - so as to have lost sight of the absolute primacy of the Ring Quest. He is not sufficiently clear that Frodo must turn east as soon as possible - and that this is The Priority towards which everything else needs to be subordinated, without prevarication or delay.
