March 25, 2002

Redemption
Brett C.

Thinking about Boromir's redemption for trying to steal the Ring I think Everett makes some good points, but the arguement he puts forward doesn't quite meld with Gandalf's statement just after the one Everett quoted, where the wizard says, 'It was not in vain the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake.' Gandalf's thinking here seems to lean towards the idea of Merry and Pippin playing a pivotal role in Boromir's escape from danger.

The reason may lie in a line from both the movie and book that seems to be unimportant but may carry larger meaning in Tolkien's plan. Having lost Frodo, Boromir calls out after him, 'Curse you and all the halflings to death and darkness!' It is then he trips and falls on the stone [or loose leaves in the movie]. In Middle Earth, oaths carry power, as seen by the fate of the Oath-breakers who become the DeadMen of Dunharrow, and Boromir is among the nobility of the Dunedain. Here he is calling a similar doom down upon the halfing race, a situation even more dramatic in the movie considering his friendship with Merry and Pippin [doing sword practice with them, leaping across the chasm with them in Moria, etc.] I think it is not the fall but the sudden realisation of what he has just said that jars Boromir's conscience.

That said, when Boromir sees his two young friends about to suffer the very doom he called for at the hands of the Uruk Hai, he doesn't hesitate to lay down his life defending them. In my opinion it is one of the best scenes in the movie, maybe even more poignant than Gandalf's fall. Perhaps by giving up his life he hopes to prevent the curse he invoked.

He is the heir to the Steward of Gondor, charge with the safety of his people, and the movie adds the feeling of responsibility he has to his father who '...looks to me to make things right.' He would have a rational arguement to abandon the hobbits in the larger scheme of things, but his only thought is to save them. I think, too, that had he taken the Ring his pride would have urged him to escape and leave Merry and Pippin, for the greater good, whereas his act of selfless sacrifice, even in vain, gives him the chance to defeat pride and become a true hero. And gain redemption.

Is there a debate about Balrog wings? :)