Aragorn is *not* dull was Re: LOTR and the Imperius Curse

[foxmoth at qnet.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:
> Betty posted to HPforGU:
> 
> > While I was reading Lord of
> > the Rings, a thought crossed my mind that related to GoF.  If the
> > emperius curse had existed in Tolkien's world, which characters 
> would
> > have been most and least likely to resist it?  That is, which 
> characters
> > would be most likely to be controled by the emperius curse and which
>snip<
> -Aragorn?  Yawn.  He's such a dull character that I hate to give him 
> any credit.  I have to admit he'd probably stand up well to the I.C., 
> though.

	You're talking about the man I love1 <g> Seriously, though, you're 
underating Tolkien if you think Aragorn is dull. The Hobbits think he's 
perfect, but he isn't, and in fact he comes far closer to being 
corrupted by the Ring than they ever realize.
	We never see him tempted to take the Ring for himself, and he 
would *never* abandon the Quest...or would he? For his quest is marked 
by his given word, and his word is given not to Frodo, but to Boromir.
"I will come to Minas Tirith" he says, (The Fellowship of the Ring, 
Book 2, Chapter 2) and yet in chapter 10 he appoints himself to 
accompany Frodo to Mordor instead. He may not (yet) desire the Ring for 
himself but it is already corrupting his judgement.
	This decision has grave consequences for Boromir, since it leaves 
him facing the possibility of returning to Minas Tirith  with nothing 
more to show for his quest than  a  golden belt and a couple of 
feckless Hobbits, when he had thought to bring the Sword of Elendil, 
which he was commanded to seek.  It's no wonder he cracks.
	Aragorn's anguished cry, "It is I that have failed." is not guilt-
tripping. It is a sincere acknowledgement of fault, and he spends the 
rest of the book (and a healthy chunk of the appendix) trying to defeat 
the condescension that is the downside of his nobility. It's a slow, 
painful process and entails a lot of anguish. There's a lot of Percy, 
and even a little Snape in Aragorn, but you have to look for it.
	
Pippin