This week we finish the first volume of our text. I think it'd be neat to have some kind of tradition for the end of each volume, but I don't have one in mind. Something for me to consider for next time...
This chapter, given it ends the volume called "The Fellowship of the Ring," is fittingly called "The Breaking of the Fellowship." Finally, they must decide whether to go East, directly to Mordor, or South, to Minas Tirith first. Frodo asks for some time to consider and wanders the wilderness. Boromir goes after him and, after finding him, they have this exchange:
Suddenly Boromir came and sat beside him. ‘Are you sure that
you do not suffer needlessly?’
he said. ‘I wish to help you. You need
counsel in your hard choice. Will you not take mine?’
‘I think I know already what counsel you would give, Boromir,’
said Frodo.
And it would seem like wisdom but for the warning of
my heart.’
‘Warning? Warning against what?’ said Boromir sharply.
‘Against delay. Against the way that seems easier. Against
refusal
of the burden that is laid on me...'
"We have come to it!"
"To what?"
"The core of what we do!"
"What do we do?"
"Now we see that the Creative Wizard would indeed look well upon us."
"Can you explain yourself?"
"Frodo's very heart warns him against the way that seems easier. We repeatedly discuss that ethics is doing the harder thing. And here is our hero, agreeing!"
"Funny it comes at the end of this volume though?"
"Because Frodo needed to learn it - although it isn't like he had begun the story as one who takes the easy route. In any event, we have two more volumes for him to enact this."
"And he'll need it! He will always have the chance to turn away from the Quest, as well as other emotional pulls. But Frodo will remain firm."
"Until the end."
"Until the end. Teaching us, maybe, that none are perfect."
"Perfection is not the goal Rather teaching us, I think, that we cannot do it alone. We should do the harder thing, but we need not do it alone."
"Is it unethical to remain apart from one's community?"
"Ethics, apart from the community, are less useful. Being kind to the Earth, or to remain self-disciplined, are noble things, but ethics is not about nobility's sake. We must do the right thing for others."
"We are not good just for ouselves?"
"Serving the self is the easiest of paths. If it is for our benefit, fine - but we must also find benefit for others. Otherwise ethics is just a word to justify what we already wanted - and pursuing what we wanted is easy."
"Can we say it is unethical to be apart from your community because doing the harder thing requires the support of others, and thus being alone sets one up for failure."
"That is a curious argument. But again, if you are alone, how impactful can your lack of ethics be?"
"Unless one is a hermit, it is possible to be lonely but not distant from those you could hurt. You could view yourself as the only one with enough sense to take a stand. Your distance from others justifies misdeeds."
"So while others may challenge and frustrate us, again, we see being with others is the harder way. Acting against what you call evil is easy. Finding common ground, compromise, and including others is hard."
"Determining if your opponent is evil or just different is hard."
"Yes. Earlier, you had said earlier Frodo will encounter various emotional pulls. Why did you specify emotional?"
"Emotions can lead us astray. Doing as our emotions command - or maybe guide is a better word? - is always easy."
"So it is more ethical to be robots?"
"There's no reason for such a caricature. Emotions are natural and inevitable. To deny is also unethical."
"So it is unethical to follow emotions and to resist them?"
"I said not resist, but deny. It's very easy to follow emotions, of course. Next to that, denying them any purchase is easier. What's harder is to find the balance - to keep the door open and yet prevent being overwhelmed. Being responsibly emotional, this is the harder choice."
"So again, the harder choice is the medium between the extremes."
"It is harder to balance than to fall. Balance requires constant correction and management. Once you fall, it is easy to go deeper and deeper. It is hard to stop your fall."
"Especially alone."
"The breaking of the Fellowship. Our characters become alone."
"Yet not quite. The hunters stay together. Merry and Pippin remain together. Sam finds Frodo as he tries to sneak away. The paths will be harder now, the group being spread out, but only those who act alone will find destruction: Boromir. Denethor. The Witch King. It may seem easier to strike out alone, as Frodo does try to do. But we must go with others if we are to do what is right."
"Good point! Even Frodo tries to go alone, which is easier than going together."
"It reminds us to regularly reflect on our own actions to ensure we are doing right, and to challenge our friends - especially when they are fervant. Frodo meant to go alone to protect his friends, which is noble. But it is easy, if painful, to be a martyr. It is harder to go there and come back again."
This had been a patreon-supported project, but that proved too annoying to maintain. If you would like to financially support this project, drop $1.11 (or any amount, I suppose) into my Venmo!
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