Welcome Guest 

Register

Forum Home » Books Discussion » Discuss the Books » Bravery and Choice.
Author Topic:
cirdaneth
Books Admin & Books Forum Moderator
Posts: 2069
Send Message
Avatar
Post Bravery and Choice.
on: July 03, 2011 07:08
Many characters in LotR have moments when they must make a choice that takes great courage. So what characters stand out for you? What brave choices did they make and what inner obstacle did they overcome to do so?
Richard_Tse
Council Member
Posts: 5
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Bravery and Choice.
on: July 03, 2011 08:19
In my opinion its gollum. Overcoming his despisal for the hobbits to try and help them even though he loved the ring, a bit more to it than at first meets the eye. Pity he was corrupted by it in the end even though he resisted it on many occasions.

Guess his short sited love got the better of him.
tarcolan
Movies Moderator and General Dogsbody
Posts: 6050
Send Message
Post RE: Bravery and Choice.
on: July 05, 2011 09:09
I think Gollum was just pretending to be nice to stay close to the Ring and make sure it was safe, until he could figure out how to get it back. In the book at least.

My hero is Sam, the first to save Frodo's life. Yes, Aragorn and the other big ones had difficult choices to make but they were destined for that sort of thing; it came with the job, so to speak. Frodo's courage came in taking on the task in the beginning, Merry had courage in stabbing the Witch-King, but Sam was just a humble gardener and not naturally brave or adventurous. And it wasn't just that he was a bit short on brain power. He knew the risks yet he did so many brave things. Who else would have dared to storm Cirith Ungol single handed? No-one, because it was hopeless, but Sam knew he had to try. This is actually quite a Celtic outlook on things. Samwise for Mayor!
Hangman Helper program
Frodo~the~Second
Council Member
Posts: 208
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Bravery and Choice.
on: July 09, 2011 12:34
Cool post! If I could put them in the order of whom I believe is most heroic when it comes to the ultimate choice:

1. Sam (for obvious reasons)

2. Boromir (for giving his life)

3. Frodo (for the giving of everything he had ever known to save the world)

4. Aragorn (for obvious reasons)

5. Faramir (for being willing to give his life)

6. Gandalf (for doing everything he could to protect his friends)

7. Pippin (for risking burning alive to save Faramir)

8. Merry (for not cowering from battle, but standing and fighting)

Three cheers for these heroes and the ones I'm sure I missed: HAZZAH! HAZZAH! HAZZAH!!!!!!

~Frodo (the Second)
lijahluver
Council Member
Posts: 25
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Bravery and Choice.
on: July 13, 2011 11:52
My hero is Sam, the first to save Frodo's life. Yes, Aragorn and the other big ones had difficult choices to make but they were destined for that sort of thing; it came with the job, so to speak. Frodo's courage came in taking on the task in the beginning, Merry had courage in stabbing the Witch-King, but Sam was just a humble gardener and not naturally brave or adventurous. And it wasn't just that he was a bit short on brain power. He knew the risks yet he did so many brave things. Who else would have dared to storm Cirith Ungol single handed? No-one, because it was hopeless, but Sam knew he had to try. This is actually quite a Celtic outlook on things. Samwise for Mayor!


My thoughts exactly. As much as a Frodo and Merry fangirl that I am, Sam is probably the greatest hero.
tarcolan
Movies Moderator and General Dogsbody
Posts: 6050
Send Message
Post RE: Bravery and Choice.
on: July 13, 2011 12:23
Hooray! Another Sam fan! And I forgot to mention that it was he who realised that the story of the Silmarils, which he loved as a child, was still going on, and that they were in it. Magic!
Hangman Helper program
LadyBeruthiel
Council Member
Posts: 94
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Bravery and Choice.
on: July 14, 2011 02:25
Frodo, when he offers to be the one to take the Ring to Mordor, though he does not know the way and everything in him aches to go home.
Lord_Sauron
Council Member
Posts: 7389
Send Message
Post RE: Bravery and Choice.
on: July 14, 2011 03:49
i am also a Sam fan, i think his bravery for going with Frodo was second to none and he proved it a few times during his journey, first he risked his own life when he nearly drowned while trying to swim after Frodo in the Anduin River at the end of FOTR. Also for the bravery of rescuing Frodo from Cirith Ungul as well as many more deeds. including giving the one ring back to Frodo in which Sam chose then and there that his friendship with Frodo was worth more than the power of the ring.
asea_aranion
Council Member
Posts: 533
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Bravery and Choice.
on: July 18, 2011 04:44
I also have to toss my hat in the ring for Sam. He's such a great, relatable hero because he's the everyman - he's not the chosen one, or royalty, or some great warrior, he's a gardener that got mixed up in something so much bigger than himself, and showed amazing courage in the face of things he had never even imagined. His dedication to Frodo is admirable, because it leads him to do so many extraordinary things that were terrifying. From chasing after Frodo when he tried to go off on his own to taking on an enormous spider in order to save his life to carrying on ALONE in Mordor when he thought Frodo was dead to storming an orc tower to save him again once he realized he wasn't, Sam continually shows that he will not take the easy way out, and that he possession more inner strength and bravery than any hobbit would ever be expected to.
cirdaneth
Books Admin & Books Forum Moderator
Posts: 2069
Send Message
Avatar
Post Re: Bravery and Choice.
on: February 07, 2013 03:52
I was thinking more of immediate tests, and going against ones knee-jerk reactions. Such as Sam when, in those final moments, he decides not to kill Gollum. There are some quite minor characters also whose decisions have great influence.
Lord_Sauron
Council Member
Posts: 7389
Send Message
Post Re: Bravery and Choice.
on: February 07, 2013 04:42
How about Faramer when he chose to go and try to take back Osgiliath just so his father could love him and see him as his son.

Pippin's chose to pick up the Palantir when everyone was a sleep if he didn't use the palantir then Sauron's plan would of still been secret

Merry's bravery in wanting to go to Gondor and fight he was i think willing to die to help save his friends.
cirdaneth
Books Admin & Books Forum Moderator
Posts: 2069
Send Message
Avatar
Post Re: Bravery and Choice.
on: February 07, 2013 06:56
... and Farmer Maggot smuggling the hobbits to Bucklebury Ferry.
tarcolan
Movies Moderator and General Dogsbody
Posts: 6050
Send Message
Post Re: Bravery and Choice.
on: February 09, 2013 04:50
Fatty Bolger! Barliman. Fewer though as we move away from the Shire.
Hangman Helper program
wolfbladequeen
Council Member
Posts: 2073
Send Message
Post
on: June 16, 2013 03:14
Sam, though what more can I say that hasn't already been said? And Faramir, because he did what he thought was right rather than trying to please Denethor by doing what he wanted Faramir to do.
If anyone had happened to look out of a window on the east side of the palace, they might have noticed two figures in the darkness, dancing in a square bordered by living plants, out of time with the dancers inside but perfectly in time with each other.
Lord_Sauron
Council Member
Posts: 7389
Send Message
Post
on: October 20, 2013 05:32
Ok I know this is a LotR thread but I would like to say that I think one of the bravest things that happened in Middle Earth was how Finrod an Elf chose not to betray Beren a Man but instead sacrificed himself so Beren could live
findemaxam48
Council Member
Posts: 9188
Send Message
Avatar
Post
on: November 04, 2013 04:10
Faramir. For being so willing to give his life away easily just for Denethor's approval, which was unlikely he could have won anyway. He knew it was hopeless, but went on anyways.
We were one in the same, running like moths to the flame. You'd hang on every word I'd say, but now they only ricochet.
PSK
Council Member
Posts: 1410
Send Message
Post
on: November 09, 2013 07:35
Its Samwise and we all know it...
but I agree with Lord_Sauron as well
"Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains." ~ The Doom of Mandos
Gandolorin
Council Member
Posts: 24040
Send Message
Post
on: December 06, 2013 06:03
Sam‘s unwavering devotion to Frodo is very central to the book, but this devotion was one in the category of what is called a life decision. This is one you do not, or rarely have to think about anymore, it is just natural behavior to you. From that perspective, Sam’s most agonizing decision was to leave Frodo behind at the pass of Cirith Ungol, believing him dead, and to carry on the quest to destroy the ring alone.
But as for the wisest decision, based on pity, insight from being a ring-bearer himself, and perhaps some dim memory of Gandalf’s foretelling that Gollum has some part to play yet before the end, was Frodo’s sparing of Gollum’s life in the Ephel Duath.
Frodo had said to Gandalf in the chapter “the Shadow of the Past” that he thought it a pity that Bilbo had not killed Gollum when he had a chance under the mountain. Gandalf replied that Bilbo’s pity and mercy saved not only Gollum, but also Bilbo from much worse effects that the ring would have had on him, had he started his ownership with murder as Gollum had.
Now, seeing Gollum in person himself, he too felt pity for this horribly wasted creature, and even decided that Gollum should lead them. In the end, he did bring them to a place from which they managed to enter Mordor – minor troubles with a giant spider and two companies of Orcs are hardly worth mentioning.
And truly at the last, the quest would have failed without Gollum’s attack on Frodo at the Sammath Naur, Frodo no longer being able to destroy the Ring.

[Edited on 12/07/2013 by Gandolorin]
Image
Cenor
Council Member
Posts: 5267
Send Message
Post
on: May 13, 2014 12:13
Yes Sam is my hero. Just think about it. Frodo wouldn't have made it without Sam. Sam saves Frodo many times: from Nazgul, Shelob, Frodo and the rest of Middle Earth when he takes the Ring when he thinks Frodo is dead, orcs, gollum, and many more times. Yes other characters do noteworthy things but Sam is the best
Image "Every good pirate has an alias" Felix glanced down, looking at contraption around the stump of his wrist. "Hook," he answered. "My name will be Hook."
cirdaneth
Books Admin & Books Forum Moderator
Posts: 2069
Send Message
Avatar
Post
on: May 14, 2014 12:25
Absolutely PB! And Sam's greatest heroism is when he acts against what he feels he should do. When he takes the ring, for instance, and when, in the moment of giving it back he goes against the seductive feeling that he should keep it to protect his master.

That's what I was getting at really ... the moments when characters come up against that sort of decision. When something feels wrong, but you know you must do it ... or feels right and you know you must not.
hobbithole_dweller
Council Member
Posts: 166
Send Message
Avatar
Post
on: May 27, 2014 08:25
All of the "hero(ines)" stand out for me, which is probably why I love LotR so much, haha. Throughout the War of the Ring, fighting what seems to be the "long defeat" (sorry, mixing my references here!) but doing it anyway is textbook courageous behaviour.
Members Online
Print Friendly, PDF & Email