Boromir: A Display of Humanity (My Thoughts)

[Aragorn]

Well, where to begin? Forgive me if any of this comes across as not understandable or jumbled, its 1:30 in the morning, and it'll probably be later when I finish. I always was a slow typer, not because I can't hit the keys fast, but it takes me a while to articulate my thoughts.

I've been doing a lot of deep thinking lately. A lot of inner contemplation. I suppose you could call it 'soul searching', if it was my soul that I was examining. But it isn't. My soul is completely uninteresting to me, I've been examining lately the world around me. I've been reading a lot of Kurt Vonnegut, which I suppose is aiding me in questioning the details behind things we've come to know and accept as normal. I've been studying the concepts of 'greed', 'humanity', and most importantly 'love' and 'hate'. All of this, I realize, has given me a greater understanding of the concepts Tolkien represented in Lord of the Rings, as well as the concepts of other authors, poets, and such.

Anyway, I went off on a tangent. The main topic of this thread is Boromir. The man who has slowly become my favorite character Tolkien ever created. I realize that may surprise some people, considering...well...my name. I started out loving Aragorn. The whole dashing, roguish appearance. And later on, the grace and, of course, power of a king. I was drawn to his enigma, but as many people realize as time goes by, enigmas are often much different than the actual person. Aragorn seems the exception to this rule, Boromir is not. Thats why I love Boromir. Boromir is so...human. Aragorn is not. He is 'better', I suppose. Better is not the right word, but I'll use it for lack of a better one. I imagine it comes from Aragorn's heritage, but Boromir doesn't have that gift. Instead, he carries the curse of humanity.

Recently, I stepped back from the whole thing and examined them both. I looked at their enigmas, and then I looked at who they really were. Aragorn's enigma, of course, was at first the mysterious hooded wanderer, and then later on the proud and noble king. Then I examined Aragorn's actual self and I found, to my confusion, that it was the same. Throughout the entire book he did not fault, did not show weakness, and in the end became one of the greatest kings Gondor has ever known. Something about that seemed wrong to me at the time, but it doesn't now. I have a better understanding. I was looking at it from a human perspective, and it took me to a while to realize that Aragorn isn't really human. He was Numenorian.

Boromir, however, was different. As the years had gone by, his ancestors' blood had mingled with that of 'lesser men'. I examined his enigma. He was the fearless leader of the armies of Gondor, son of the Steward, protector of Minas Tirith. And then I examined his actual self, and realized he was no different than you or I. He wanted the ring. He wanted it badly. He wanted to protect his home, his people, his family. And once he got that idea into his head, it stayed there. Glued to his subconscious. Its a trait called stubborness, something that many human beings suffer from as well. But Boromir fought against it, showing that he was a better person than most could even dream to be. At first he cast aside any ideas of abandoning the Fellowship, his reasoning self realizing that destroying the ring was the only possible option.

But the Ring was powerful. It could manipulate peoples' minds, enhance their desires beyond all reasoning. Looking back on it, I am truly amazed and astonished at how long Boromir managed to hold out against the powers of the Ring. He was just like Frodo, who did not fall sway to the Ringwraiths' poison for many days. Boromir tried. I really believe he did. He fought against the Ring for quite a while. But eventually, it consumed him, and his desire to protect his people led to his downfall, in the eyes of Frodo. I cannot express that enough. Any 'weakness' he might have had did not kill him. He tried to take the Ring, but luckily Frodo managed to get away.

And then, when any lesser man would have let the Ring consume him fully and follow blindly in persuit of the hobbit (such as Gollum), Boromir managed to regain control of himself. He redeemed himself, at least in my eyes, fully and completely, when he tried to save Merry and Pippin. And he died attempting to do the thing that the Ring had attempted to corrupt him with. He died trying to protect the ones he loved. He died trying to protect his family.

When I took a step back from it all, I realized that the story of Boromir is the ultimate display of redemption. Tolkien was trying to tell us, or at least I believe he was trying to tell us, or at least inadvertently told me by accident, was that there is always hope. We always have the ability to overcome. There is always the opportunity for salvation and redemption.

And when I watch my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring, when it gets to the scene where Boromir confesses what he had done to Aragorn, and when he finally dies, I cry. Everytime I cry. Not because he died, I've come to realize. He died at peace, with himself and the world. I cry because this man did not deserve it. I'm not an irrational or crazy man, I realize its just a book, and that Boromir's death was probably necessary in telling a believable story, but I also realize that if this had actually taken place, Boromir wouldn't have deserved to die.

Anyway, thats my thoughts on the matter. Its close to 2 AM now, and I have no idea why I wrote this post. I guess I just wanted to share my ideas with you all, and have you comment on and point out any flaws in my view on things. This very well might be very embarassing and strange to me in the morning, but for right now at least, thats how I feel on the subject.

Your thoughts?