XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis, rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: zip@nowhere.never   
      
   "Joseph"  wrote...   
      
   > > Can you love your enemy and still kill him?   
   >   
   > Your enemy? How about your friend?   
   >   
   > You are standing at the lip of the rocky outcrop above the fires of Mount   
   > Doom. Your friend and mentor has failed his mission, unable to discard the   
   > evil ring of power. The world teerters over the abyss of Evil and the fate   
   > of the world is in your hands.   
   >   
   > Do you bite Frodo's finger off and hurl it into the fires? Or failing   
   that,   
   > do you at least attempt to push Frodo, together with the ring, into the   
   > fires?   
   >   
   > I hope so.   
   >   
   > Think about it...   
      
   On the surface it looks like a simple choice... But this is Tolkien, and the   
   ring of power is no mere object.   
      
   It exerts influence on those around it. Particularly on the one who carries   
   it.   
      
   In trying to figure out why Elrond did not simply force Isildur to throw the   
   ring into the flames of Mount Doom, one can only conclude that the influence   
   of the ring was so strong, that he could not bring himself to stop Isildur   
   from walking off with it... Afterall, the Ring of Power protects itself by   
   ingratiating itself with the owner and the others near it...   
      
   Everything about the way the One Ring works defeats that possibility.   
   Because deep down in your heart, you *want* the ring. You don't *want* to   
   destroy it... You want to *keep* it. It is *yours*.   
      
   So when your friend fails in his mission, you are *glad* because the ring   
   survives, and maybe soon it will be your turn to carry it.   
      
   Subconciously, I believe, this is why Elrond didn't simply shove Isildur   
   into the flames, and similarly why Sam, seeing Frodo waver, didn't   
   immediately toss his friend in for the greater good. They weren't strong   
   enough...   
      
   Who are you to claim freedom-of-will enough to push your friend, who is   
   carrying the ring, into the flames in order to destroy it and save all.   
      
   Those are big words.   
      
   -Paul.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)