Frodo Baggins

I think the reason Frodo doesn’t get a whole lot of love is mainly just because he complains a lot (but, good lord, who can blame him?) And this is kind of played up a lot in the movies, so those who’ve read the book tend to like him a bit more, I think. To be honest, he’s not my favorite either, but Frodo is definitely a hero, and here’s why:

Frodo grew up in a peaceful, idealic, isolated Shire. He never had to worry about money, being raised mostly by his very wealthy uncle. He didn’t have to worry about being attacked by anything more dangerous than his rambunctious cousins. Basically, he had no worries. And then he finds out that this random little ring left to him by Bilbo is apparently the Evilest Thing That Exists And Is Going To Kill Everyone, to paraphrase Gandalf’s explanation. And sure, Gandalf doesn’t really leave him a lot of options, but Frodo could have insisted that somebody else take the ring to Rivendell. If he really put his foot down, what else could Gandalf have done? But no, he agrees to travel all the way to Rivendell, knowing he’s being chased by servants of Sauron, to deliver a ring that he didn’t even care about a day ago.

And then, after nearly dying and having several miserable experiences, he gets the ring to Rivendell, and then watches in the Council of Elrond as absolutely nobody can figure out what to do with this ring. Sure, they eventually decide that it must be destroyed, but who’s going to do it? And this sheltered hobbit from a peaceful land (that by all rights is free to go and return to his perfect life now) watches this and solves everybody’s problem by volunteering to do it himself. Does he really understand what he’s getting himself into? Not really, no. But he agreed to do it anyway. Let’s be completely honest here, how many of us would have done the same?

And the rest of the quest is equally, if not more, horrible, and Frodo is miserable for most of it, but he never gives up, or stops, or chucks the ring into a stream somewhere and high-tails it back to the Shire. And let’s be honest. He could have done any of these things. Because, coming from the perfect, idealic, peaceful, isolated Shire, Frodo doesn’t really have as much of a vested interest in seeing Sauron defeated as everybody else. Yes, he understands intellectually that Sauron would destroy the Shire if he came to power. But understanding intellectually that going outside with sunscreen could give us skin cancer doesn’t stop most of us from doing it anyway. Really, all that Frodo’s got driving him is the fact that he agreed to do this, and he knows that it’s important, and nobody else can do it, so he’s going to.

And everything just keeps on getting worse, and his support system is dwindling day by day (Gandalf dies, he has to leave the rest of the fellowship, but thank god for Sam.) And as miserable as the Emyn Muil and the Dead Marshes are, it’s nothing compared to Cirith Ungol and Mordor, and it’s unbelievably ridiculously bad, but he just keeps going.

And that type of selfless heroism, that isn’t just a quick flash of courage (like diving in front of a bullet), but a decision that Frodo has to make again countless times a day, day after day, until he finally gets that ring to Mount Doom. And that is why he’s a hero.

((For Tolkien’s own thoughts on Frodo’s heroism, read his letters #192 and #264, which can be found in the book The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.))

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON askmiddlearth.tumblr.com