XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm   
      
   On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:48:32 +0200, Troels Forchhammer wrote:   
   > The corrupting influence of knowing about the power of the Ring   
   > obviously doesn't depend on seeing the Ring.   
   >   
   [snip]   
   >   
   > Saruman and Galadriel are tempted by their own knowledge of the power   
   > that the One Ring can give them while Gollum is attracted by he   
   > doesn't know what -- in between there is a range of possible   
   > reactions including Boromir's.   
      
   I think there's a difference there, though.  Saruman was not   
   corrupted by the Ring.  He became corrupt, and then when he found out   
   about the Ring he desired it as a means to the power he already   
   wanted.  The difference is subtle, but I think important.   
      
   Boromir, on the other hand, *was* corrupted by the Ring.  An   
   honorable man who didn't seek power beyond his position as heir to   
   Gondor, he fell under its influence without realizing that he was   
   doing so.  Boromir's motives were good, in a sense: not dominion for   
   its own sake, but victory over Gondor's enemies so that Gondor could   
   have peace and prosperity. Of course, that was a cheat of the Ring:   
   if Boromir had actually used it Gondor would have had no peace; but   
   still the Ring worked on Boromir's good side.  It tried something of   
   the same with Sam, but Sam's hobbit-sense preserved him.   
      
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