Having not noticed this for many years and multiple re-readings; I have become increasingly aware of the ways in which Frodo's - illegitimate - use of the One Ring, and expectations of using the One Ring, prepared the ground for his inability to destroy The Ring when he arrived at the cracks of doom on March 25.
Significant was Frodo's first, and frivolous, use of The Ring in the House of Tom Bombadil.
But Frodo later begins to reveal that he is considering using the ring as an instrument of power, specifically against Gollum; and (as previously described) this recurs in the climactic scene on the slopes of Mount Doom, when Frodo actually claims the One Ring for the first time (i.e. even before the he stood beside the cracks of doom).
Knowing this, I have now become aware of clear instances of foreshadowing - incremental steps by which led towards Frodo claiming The Ring - that I had previously missed.
Outside the Black Gate on March 4, Frodo makes the following threat to Gollum:
"You swore a promise by what you call the Precious. Remember that! It will hold you to it; but it will seek a way to twist it to your own undoing.
"Already you are being twisted. You revealed yourself to me just now, foolishly. Give it back to Sméagol, you said.
"Do not say that again! Do not let that thought grow in you! You will never get it back. But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end.
"You will never get it back. In the last need, Sméagol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago. If I, wearing it, were to command you, you would obey, even if it were to leap from a precipice or to cast yourself into the fire. And such would be my command.
"So have a care, Sméagol!"
This is a very explicit and convincing threat to use the One Ring illegitimately; not merely to escape from danger, but to overpower the will of another.
Another clear but subtle sign of the way that Frodo had begun to think, happened a few days later on March 10, outside Minas Morgul - expressed in just two words.
I have added the italicized emphasis, but I had not noticed these words - or their significance - before my current re-reading:
Maybe it was the Ring that called to the Wraith-lord, and for a moment he was troubled, sensing some other power within his valley. This way and that turned the dark head helmed and crowned with fear, sweeping the shadows with its unseen eyes.
Frodo waited, like a bird at the approach of a snake, unable to move. And as he waited, he felt, more urgent than ever before, the command that he should put on the Ring. But great as the pressure was, he felt no inclination now to yield to it. He knew that the Ring would only betray him, and that he had not, even if he put it on, the power to face the Morgul-king - not yet.
There was no longer any answer to that command in his own will, dismayed by terror though it was, and he felt only the beating upon him of a great power from outside.
Those words "Not yet" seem to be revealing that at least part of Frodo was actually - even before he had entered Mordor - planning to achieve sufficient mastery over the power of The Ring; to be able, at some point in the future, to face the Morgul-King - most powerful of Sauron's servants.
From the above; it seems evident that the idea of becoming The Ring Lord was growing in Frodo's mind for about three weeks, before it reached the point of full domination over his will.
The above helps explain why it is that Frodo was so badly affected by the destruction of The Ring, and contributed to Frodo's later malaise.
It was on a March 13th that Farmer Cotton heard him muttering "It is gone forever, and now all is dark and empty."
This was not the anniversary of The One Ring being destroyed; but of the date when The Ring was taken from Frodo for safe-keeping by Sam; after Frodo was stung by Shelob.
In other words; Frodo was not so much affected by the anniversary of being poisoned by Shelob, as by the first, and temporary, loss of The Ring; which he had by then begun to regard as his own.
7 comments:
I missed an unbelievable amount on my first reading of LOTR (and second, and third), but I vividly remember the experience of the first read because from about the point you mention (the Black Gate) I knew Frodo could not possibly give up the ring. It makes for a very intense reading experience rooting for him through such extreme trials while knowing them to be pointless unless “something” intervenes (not “someone” bc any other being would fall the same way Frodo fell), very different from other epic quest stories I mean. It made in particular the end of TTT intense as it was entirely plausible to me that part of the “solution” to the problem of Frodo’s inevitable love of the ring was that Shelob really did kill him.
A similar but almost opposite experience around the same age reading Harry Potter- I was a bit late (delayed 1 day) in getting to read The Half-Blood Prince on the day it was released, and after hearing a few “ugh Snape!” remarks I told my sister “Nothing would ever convince me Snape is evil. He would have to…to…to kill Dumbledore!” My sister who had already read it did not have the poker-face for that situation.
The similarity being that the core motivations of each character, Snape and Frodo, are drawn so well and consistent even where it’s a partial sketch that the inner truth is revealed all along and is only confirmed by the climactic incidents and choices rather than revealed by them as they are in most stories.
@Mia - Well done for getting that point first time - it took me over fifty years!
I don't think I had such a clear idea of Snape's real character, because I tended to believe whatever red herrring was laid to mislead me!
Ha, well, the herrings are well laid in that series! And I have an overall unfortunate tendency to meta-analyze books as I read them, from my elementary education where predicting the next part of the story was a mandatory part of every fiction reading assignment. OTOH since I’m therefore rarely surprised I have that much more admiration for authors who manage to surprise me while still crafting an well-integrated story. Dumbledore’s death certainly fit that bill. LotR is overall so creative though it’s not really about surprises as discoveries and unfoldings.
@Mia - That sounds a bit like my wife watching Hollywood movies, especially thrillers - she always knows what will happen to each character (who will be the redshirt, what will happen to the token child or nun etc), because she has internalized all the Tropes.
But luckily she doesn't tell me (unless I ask).
I am so much the opposite that, even when re-reading or re-watching, I find myself half-hoping that *this-time* it will turn-out different. Maybe this time the hobbits won't fall asleep on the east side of standing stone on the Barrow Downs; maybe this time Sam won't call Gollum a sneak, and Gollum will repent?...
Does she like The Cabin in the Woods? I know you mentioned liking Tucker & Dale vs Evil, right? I’m not a horror fan generally but those two and the Nicole Kidman The Others are my favs. I rather like horror literature but film is too much.
The Dune series is top-notch for achieving the twist you never see coming but that makes such perfect sense looking back it was clearly the only possible outcome. The first book is the least strong in that regard but still quite good, the rest are bombshells. Too bad the original author didn’t finish things. The son continued the plot well but is an abysmal writer.
@Mia - No, she doesn't like horror - not even comedy horror. It's the jump scares that are the problem.
I've never read Dune, 'tho' my brother is a fan.
Totally agree about jump-scares- they are the worst!
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