Sunday, January 22, 2012

Blog Post 7: I say "hero," you say . . .

What is heroism, according to Tolkien? At one point, Sam jokes that perhaps one day, people will make songs about his quest with Frodo, and I think it's fair to say that the adventures of the heroes we meet in The Lord of the Rings measure up to the exploits of the heroes in The Silmarillion. The heroes themselves, though, are different. For this blog post, I'd like you to reflect on the nature of heroism in The Lord of the Rings and try to develop a coherent theory of what a hero is, at the end of the Third Age and the beginning of the dominion of men. If you could characterize the heroes of the Lord of the Rings as a group, what single characteristic stands out the most? Who are we supposed to look up to? What are we asked to value? And how do we know someone is a hero?

20 comments:

  1. A hero in the Third Age is not only a leader of men but one who resists the effects of power and does what is needed. Aragorn does not want power for the sake of power he sees it as a duty and obligation. Aragorn is a hero who consistantly does what is needed with great valour and courage. However Aragorn is also the type of leader who doesn't fall under the temptation of the Ring but instead does his best to lead it to destructon. A leader of the First Age might have shown the same valour but they failed to show the same resistance to power.

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  2. All the heroes in The Lord of the Rings show great courage, and this is one attribute I think is at the core of being a hero. Frodo goes against insurmountable odds to sneak into Mordor to destroy the ring, Aragorn finally comes into his role as king of Gondor and leads his men against the evils of Sauron. If all the heroes in The Lord of the Rings were put together, courage would be the one trait that is present in all of them. It does not matter what role they played in the larger scheme of things, it was their courage that made them a hero. Sam’s main role was to be there for Frodo. He did not fight any large battles, or have to rule many men, or carry the ring for an extended period of time, but he did show his courage when he went with Frodo across the river at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. So whether you are a king of men or a mere gardner accompanying a friend, courage is the defining trait of all heroes.

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  3. A recurring attribute among the “heroes” in The Lord of the Rings is the desire for things to remain unchanged and a wishing for things to return to better, former states. There are no Fingolfins galloping enraged to the Black Gate and demanding a confrontation with Sauron. The heroes in The Lord of the Rings are in their heads and do not overreach. They act out of necessity and do not go out looking for trouble. The hobbits are the truest form of heroes at the end of the Third Age in Middle-earth because they do not go traipsing across Middle-earth looking for gold or glory. They go out in friendship, persevere in friendship, and, even when they are alone, act with all loved ones in mind. These heroes act out of necessity and for the people or the land that they love. You're not going to find Aragorn or even Boromir Fingolfining it up (even though it'd be great for a movie) because they have hope. They have actually hope that the ring bearer will succeed and they Middle-earth might be saved. We are awed and amazed by Aragorn and by the elves, but I think those that truly inspire, those that we look up to (or down, really), are the hobbits. I loved how Peter Jackson did the scene atop Minas Tirith, when all, even the King, bowed to the four hobbits. Even in the book, at Aragorn's crowning, the hobbits are treated with high regard and their courage is known throughout the city. Hobbits are the heroes of The Lord of the Rings.

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  4. To be a hero in The Lord of the Rings, you need to do the things that you are supposed to do and not give up. That, in my opinion, describes all the main heroes in this book. Aragorn never gives up, even when he thinks that Merry and Pippin are dead. He still has hope that they can find them somehow. Frodo never gives up in trying to make it to Mordor and Mount Doom. He knows that he will be lucky to even make it there, but he still never gives up. Even Gandalf has this quality. After he had died, he could very well have stayed out of Middle Earth, but he came back. He didn’t want to give up on everyone. I think that that is what Tolkien is trying to tell us about heroism. Heroism isn’t just about doing these special things that are practically impossible. Heroism in The Lord of the Rings is more about not giving up, no matter how hopeless it seems.

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  5. As far as what a hero is, I would have to agree with the first post. A true hero, such as the mighty Aragorn is one who is able to resist the evil temptation of the Ring, whereas if it was leader of The Silmarillion, they would have succumbed to its power. Also a hero is one who achieves a goal for unselfish reasons, this makes them more courageous and honored by others. A hero is also one who puts themselves in an extremely dangerous quest but ends up succeeding in the end. However, Aragorn is not the only displays the characteristics of heroism. Other characters in The Lord of the Rings display courage and bravery in order to destroy the Ring. Frodo is especially one that puts himself in harms way in order to achieve his task. All of the other characters did the same thing.It all started with the forming of the fellowship when Nine volunteers chose to go with Frodo to aid him with his task. They all demonstrated heroism in choosing to risk their own lives in order to destroy the Ring. It doesn't matter if you are an heir of Numenor or a mere hobbit, your courageous actions make you a hero.

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  6. The one characteristic of the Fellowhip that stood out to me was their humanness. Even non-human characters such as Gimli showed their humanness through their emotions, such as fear when going through the Paths of the Dead. You could say that they were brave and had valor, but it was through their humannesss that the reader could relate and say that that is what a human should strive to act like, a hero. A hero is someone that others should dream of being because of what they had done, and in the Silmarillian, the acts of bravery and courage of the elves were so far beyond what a human could do that it would be almost discouraging to a hopeful hero. A hero does need to be brave and have honor and stand up for what is right, but these are some of the best human characteristcs that should show the hero's humanity make them relatable to the reader.

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  7. Tolkien has something to say about reluctant heroism. All the heroes would rather smoke their pipes in times of peace than go off to battle in strange lands. The only hero who truly takes pride in battle is Boromir and that eventually leads to his downfall. The rest such as Aragorn and Faramir would prefer spending their lives in peace. In this Tolkien demonstrating his dislike for the traditional hero. Fighting for a of peace, not a love of fighting, is what makes a hero.

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  8. The characteristic that shows itself most true to me among the members of the fellowship is their strong friendship and care for one another. Merry, Pippin, and Sam all plot together to go with Frodo into peril because of their love for him. Borimir gave his life to defend the hobbits for the same reason. Gandalf fell in Khazad-dum to allow the fellowship to escape for that reason and Legolas and Gimli followed Aragorn on the paths of the dead for that reason as well. I don't think a character needs to do incredible deeds to be a hero, but he needs to stick with his friend through thick and thin or to the bitter end. All the characters in the fellowship valued each other so much and that love for one another is at least something I can take away from them.

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  9. The heroes of the Third Age differ slightly in character than that of the Silmarillion. The heroes in The Lord of the Rings have in common at least one quality: selfless bravery. Frodo especially demonstrates this quality, as well as Sam. An example of that would be the quest to destroy the Ring. He does it for the Shire, and his friends, least of all for himself. Sam accompanies him because he wants to help Frodo, at whatever cost. They have very little care, if at all, for their own safety above that of others and the Shire. They continuously place themselves in danger to save the ones close to them, especially for each other. The Fellowship is chock full of heroes, essentially all of them demonstrate selfless bravery over and over again, giving little regard to themselves, instead serving the greatest good first. They expect nothing in return as well, which is extremely selfless. This quality is as heroic as it gets, and shows up again and again throughout the entire story.

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  10. Although I think many different characteristics are important in the makings of a hero, I believe that selflessness is the most important. Doing things in order to benefit others instead of keeping yourself safe shows true heroism, since it means the person is thinking about the bigger picture and how that will affect everyone. There are many examples of this type of hero in the Lord of the Rings. Aragorn goes to the Paths of the Dead, not knowing if he will ever come back but daring to do so for the lives that he might save. Frodo takes the Ring into Mordor, realizing he could very well die but wanting to help stop the darkness that is spreading over Middle-Earth. Sam accompanies Frodo on his dangerous quest because he cares about Frodo and would rather help him be safe than save himself. Even Eowyn shows she is a hero when she slays the Witch King defending her father. She knows her peril but stays to try to keep him safer. Selflessness is one of the most important things a hero can have, and it distinguishes them from the rest of society because they are willing to do anything to protect others first.

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  11. There's a quote from the reading for today that really stood out to me on the nature of heroism. As Merry is riding forth with Eomer and Theoden, Aragorn reflects on him to Halbarad, "'He knows not to what end he rides; yet if he knew, he would still go on'" (779). A hero is someone who does what needs to be done because it needs to be done. Look at Pippin, who has the awe of the people of Gondor for what he's done and been through, although he doesn't think of it as much. We've been with him, so we know he hasn't faced things with great glory or fortitude. But he does deserve the honor because he has the courage to keep going on for what's right.

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  12. A dominant trait that all of the heroic characters in The Lord of the Rings possess is the trait of loyalty. A good hero is loyal and willing to follow the quest through until the end. I think Tolkien really wanted to emphasize this trait as it is present throughout The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Another main point is bravery. A hero is not heroic is he does not truly understand into what danger he is riding. But if a hero is ready to look that danger in the face and continue, he is truly worthy of the praise heroism brings.

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  13. In The Lord of the Rings, true heroism is often unsung, and valor goes beyond doing deeds for the sake of recognition. Many men perform valiant deeds, but perhaps the bravest, and most surprising deeds comes from Hobbits. When Frodo takes up the Ring as his burden, Elrond comments on his decision. He says “though all the mighty elf friends of old Hador, and Hurin, and Turin, and Beren himself were assembled together, your seat should be among them” (at the end of Book II Ch 2). The hobbits show remarkable bravery, when Sam takes up Frodo’s burden of the Ring, when Merry helps Eowyn slay the Witch King, and when Pippin saves Faramir from Denethor’s madness. Though the hobbits do receive recognition, they do not do the deeds for the sake of glory or fame. They eventually return to the Shire, where many of their great deeds go unnamed. In the end, true heroism comes from within and is not concerned with the outward appearance.

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  14. The definition of "hero" is far more ambiguous in The Lord of the Rings than it is in The Silmarillion. As far as I can tell, a hero in The Lord of the Rings does everything he can to resist the temptation of the ring, while not necessarily succeeding. Boromir, for instance, succumbs to the ring's power, but succeeds in redeeming himself for his mistake. Bilbo also gives up the ring freely, although he has long been subject to its power. This is a far cry from the heroes of The Silmarillion, who would have simply taken the ring and used it, caring only about the fact that it was a source of great power, and giving now thought to the damage they could do with it.

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  15. LAST NIGHT. RM 302, MCMILLAN HALL

    >D> What's heroism precious? What's heroism eh?

    >B> HER--O--ISM, Tolkien's delight. you know, questing, journeying, stabbing things in the face. With nice, golden rings and shiny swords, even you couldn't say no to that!

    >D> Oh yes we could! Spoiling a nice story, ruining it! Give me the ringses now, and keep nassty swords!

    >B> You're hopeless. Go to sleep!

    >D> No! We wont! We needs to debate this topic of importance, precious, yes we do! We thinks that Gollum is the most heroic character in the Lord of the Ringses. Yess...Most heroic.

    >B> Where have you been? That stinker's probably the most selfish being in the whole of Middle Earth!

    >D> We knows, but Tolkien doesnt likes silly heroic stereotypes, no...he hated nasty Arthurian knights. Too didactic, too unrealistic. Yess, precious, we doesnt need selflessness to be heroic, nope!
    We needs a struggle, and Smeagol has more struggleses than Smeagol can count! His brainses has been twisted, poisoned it has, by the Ring!

    >B> Its all that nasty creature wants. He'd kill for it if he got the chance, throttle you in your sleep if you had it.

    >D> Perhaps, only if it was easy. But Smeagol's battle is mostly in his own brainses! He has been through too many tortures, many nasty cruel punishments, he deserved them, perhaps. But his mind has been twisted, broken it has!

    >B> Yes, into Slinker and Stinker. both sides are willing to do whatever he can to get at the Ring. Slinker is just better at hiding it though.

    >D> We knows, Oh yes. They both wants the ring, but Smeagol wants to follow his promise, and tries to send Gollum away! But Gollum is tricksy, and false! He comes back, and trickses Smeagol into giving him control again. Smeagol's internal fight makes him the most heroic character, because we sees him battle with Gollum to the end, helping Frodo to Mordor, and resisting the temptations of the ring. Smeagol's heroic flaw gets the best of him, precious, yes. He does not win, But we still thinks he is a hero.

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  16. I think the components of a hero are highly dependent upon the situation in which they are expected to be heroic. We see a very different type of hero in The Silmarillion than we do in The Lord of the Rings for various reasons but mostly, in my opinion, because the situations of the two storied are fairly different. The heroes of The Silmarillion take more drastic actions because they are up against one of the Valar, making it a rather drastic situation. The heroes of The Lord of the Rings are a little more subtle, not because Sauron is a less serious situation, but because he uses a more subtle type of evil. But if I had to choose one characteristic that unites all heroes from both stories I would say that they are all incredibly selfless. Each of them has the internal awareness that they must put their own desires and wishes behind the good of the company. None of the hobbits actually want to come on this journey, but they do it out of loyalty to Frodo, who knows instinctively that, although he does not want it, this mission is his to complete. We see this also in Aragorn, who wishes to go to Minas Tirith but in the end is willing to follow Frodo into Mordor first. The theme of selflessness is, in fact, present in each of the fellowship members.
    -Chelsea Mueller

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  17. The Lord of the Rings has heroes who are often selfless and courageous, and are motivated for a desire to protect rather than by pride, greed, or selfishness. Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, and Gandalf all exhibit these qualities. Most prevalent of these heroic qualities is courage – shown by Frodo in his journey to Mordor and when he splits from the rest of the Fellowship to complete the task alone, by Sam in rescuing Frodo and fighting Shelob, Aragorn in his leadership and numerous battles, and Gandalf in his fight with the Balrog. Eowyn and Merry also show it when they confront the witch king. The heroes in the third age are smaller and less expected – they aren’t always bold kings, sometimes they’re tiny hobbits and sometimes they’re women who aren’t expected to be warriors. We are asked to value courage, and the willingness to keep hope and fight for something.

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  18. If one word could define the Tolkien hero it would have to be selfless. The heros that we see in The Lord of the Rings don't care about indivual glory. Though Aragorn would like to head off to Minas Tirith and save his people he is equally pateint to do what is asked of him. Comapared to Boromir who falls because he wants to take the ring for personal glory (look closely at the last part of his speech to Frodo). The same could be said of Sauroman and many other fallen heroes. Heroes need to have that feeling of selflessness and be content or they are doomed to fail.

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  19. I don't think a hero is defined by a single characteristic, but a combination of many. Determination, as demonstrated by frodo and aragorn and pretty much every other character that could qualify as a hero. Love and courage are also very prevalent. But I think the thing that we are supposed to value is perseverance in the face of defeat.

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  20. According to Tolkien I think it is safe to say that a hero is someone who is determined to finish a quest out to the end no matter how unlikely the odds of success are. This determination is a quality that we see in each of the characters of the Lord of the Rings. Sam and Frodo make their way to Mordor even though they know their odd of success are low and that the danger only increases the closer they get to their goal. Legolas and Gimili are valiant warriors who will stay in a battle into they have each killed as many possible orcs. Aragorn will stop at nothing to protect the people he calls his friends and the good of middle earth. Each character we read about we see this determination at fighting evil and finishing the quest.
    If we were supposed to look up to one character I would say that it would be a tie between Aragorn and Frodo for me personally. Aragorn is a fearless warrior and a great leader but he is humble about it. Frodo has such an amazing brave spirit that he will fight his hobbit heart out to finish a quest that elves and men before him could not. Each of these two characters epitomizes what I think of as hero, which is courage and determination.

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