Debate: Should Frodo have kept the Ring at the end of Lord of the Rings?

I always thought the ending where Frodo fails and Gollum bites the ring off was perfect because it shows how corrupting power is, but my buddy Steve argued it would have been better if Frodo just tossed it in himself to prove that good can win, so which side makes the story stronger?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithj1023d ago

Steve's wrong and the ending is the only way it could have worked. Tolkien spent the whole book showing that the Ring's pull is stronger than any mortal willpower, so having Frodo just shrug it off would contradict everything the story was built on. The whole point is that the quest only succeeds through luck and pity, not through Frodo being some perfect hero who overcomes evil on his own. Gollum biting the ring off is ugly and messy, but that's exactly how real moral struggles play out, not some clean victory where good guys win by being good.

drew79123d ago

Pretty much nailed it dude. The whole point is that nobody can just willpower their way past the Ring's corruption, not even a hobbit. Having Frodo toss it in himself would've completely killed the whole theme about mercy and pity being what actually saves the day.