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Message: <blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 1707515" data-attributes="member: 3400">Well, that's what you get for relying on a movie to convey the story, which is  in many ways worse than relying on Cliff Notes because a movie doesn't try to directly explain the themes in the work. I can see how you get this impression, in part, from the movie. But it also would constitute a misreading of the real contract (if you choose to see one as being there). To push the metaphor, all contracts have plenty of fine print that should be carefully examined, and that fine print is, of course, the text of the book.Frodo isn't really the only person who can carry the ring. Any hobbit will probably do as long as they are sufficiently innocent and have their heads in the right place (Lotho Baggins or Ted Sandyman would be bad choices, for example, but Farmer Maggot would probably be an excellent choice being a tough, no nonsense kind of guy). But Frodo takes it up as his personal burden and not a burden for anybody else. Frodo has a bit of a maryr complex (which gets borne out at the end so maybe it's well placed).As for the destruction of the ring, you were warned earlier in the movie that Gollem yet had an important part to play and the issue comes around in a couple of circles. Bilbo and Frodo's pity of Gollum allows him to survive so that he can not only betray Frodo to Shelob but also save the world by causing the destruction of the ring. So that very pity for pitiable creatures is what saves Frodo from the corruption of the ring in the end. In a certain light, Frodo therefore IS the architect of the destruction of the ring (had he followed Sam's advice, the quest would certainly have failed at this point). It's just that the destruction happens in an unexpected way. It isn't his strength and determination that win the day because those are spent (and it takes the strength and determination of his servant, Sam, to get him close enough). It's one of the very factors that makes him and hobbits so resistant to the ring in the first place: inherent kindliness and the ability to have pity and show mercy. Another interesting comment. When Gollum swears on the ring to serve the master, Frodo says the ring will exact a terrible price for breaking that promise. And it sure does. In his moment of triumph, Gollum is destroyed. All of this is a bit more clear in the fine print of the trilogy, I think, than the summarized version on the silver screen.</blockquote>

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