ForthDauntless3
Member
During last week's class (#109 if memory serves), we had a spirited argument about whether Frodo's reluctance to reveal the nature of his quest was due to the influence of the Ring or due to simple caution.
I think there are two factors we ought to consider if we're trying to analyze which of those possibilities are more likely: 1) how the narrator describes other instances when we can be confident the Ring is attempting to influence Frodo and 2) other instances when Frodo hesitates to discuss his quest.
For the first factor, I'm going to ignore any instances of Ring-influence after the arrival at Rivendell. The Ring gains a steadily stronger hold over Frodo as he holds it longer and as it comes closer to Mordor, so later examples might not be representative. As far as I can recall, these are the other times Frodo seems to fall under the sway of the Ring:
A) He hesitates to throw it into the fire at Bag End. The text says, "The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its color, how perfect was its roundness."
B) He nearly puts the Ring on while hiding from the black rider in the Shire. The text: "Frodo hesitated for a second: curiosity or some other feeling was struggling with his desire to hide." And then later: "A sudden unreasoning fear of discovery laid hold of Frodo, and he thought of the Ring...He felt that he had only to slip it on, and then he would be safe."
C) He puts the Ring on and tries to wander out of Tom Bombadil's house. The text: "Something prompted him to make sure. He was perhaps a trifle annoyed with Tom for seeming to make so light of what even Gandalf though so perilously important.
D) In the dell below Weathertop. The text, in part: "something seemed to be compelling him to disregard all warnings, and he longed to yield."
We seem to have two different patterns of ring influence. Examples A and C look like rationalization, exactly the sort of thing that we worried about in class. Examples B and D however, look like an external force simply beating against Frodo's will. This pattern will become much more dominant as the Ring grows in strength. The common factor that seems to distinguish the two is the proximity of black riders. Somehow their presence seems to enhance the Ring's influence on Frodo.
For the second factor, we know of two other times when Frodo hesitates to reveal the nature of his quest. The first is when he's confronted by the conspirators at Crickhollow; the second is when he hesitates to discuss anything important with Strider. In the first case, Frodo fears for his friends' safety, and he only opens up to them when it becomes clear that they already know a great deal about the quest. In the second, he simply distrusts Strider, because Frodo does not wish to risk revealing the quest to a spy. In both of these instances, the reader is invited to infer that Frodo's caution stems at least partially from Gandalf's charge in chapter 2: "I don't think you need to go alone not if you know anyone that you can trust...and that you would be willing to take into unknown perils...Be careful what you say, even to your closest friends. The enemy has many spies and many ways of hearing."
Gandalf's caution and secretiveness seem to carry themselves even into Rivendell. Gloín even remarks to Frodo that Gandalf and Elrond seem reluctant to discuss Frodo's errand. It's therefore entirely rational for Frodo to maintain that reticence, though that does not rule out a rationalization.
Based only on how the Ring influenced Frodo in the absence of the black riders, a ring-induced rationalization can't be ruled out. Frodo's reluctance to speak to Gloín doesn't follow either the Crickhollow or the Strider pattern, so the only thing he'd have to fall back on is Gloín's statement and Gandalf's warning. I started out as a skeptic about the rationalization argument, but the evidence supports that view more than I'd first thought.
I think there are two factors we ought to consider if we're trying to analyze which of those possibilities are more likely: 1) how the narrator describes other instances when we can be confident the Ring is attempting to influence Frodo and 2) other instances when Frodo hesitates to discuss his quest.
For the first factor, I'm going to ignore any instances of Ring-influence after the arrival at Rivendell. The Ring gains a steadily stronger hold over Frodo as he holds it longer and as it comes closer to Mordor, so later examples might not be representative. As far as I can recall, these are the other times Frodo seems to fall under the sway of the Ring:
A) He hesitates to throw it into the fire at Bag End. The text says, "The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its color, how perfect was its roundness."
B) He nearly puts the Ring on while hiding from the black rider in the Shire. The text: "Frodo hesitated for a second: curiosity or some other feeling was struggling with his desire to hide." And then later: "A sudden unreasoning fear of discovery laid hold of Frodo, and he thought of the Ring...He felt that he had only to slip it on, and then he would be safe."
C) He puts the Ring on and tries to wander out of Tom Bombadil's house. The text: "Something prompted him to make sure. He was perhaps a trifle annoyed with Tom for seeming to make so light of what even Gandalf though so perilously important.
D) In the dell below Weathertop. The text, in part: "something seemed to be compelling him to disregard all warnings, and he longed to yield."
We seem to have two different patterns of ring influence. Examples A and C look like rationalization, exactly the sort of thing that we worried about in class. Examples B and D however, look like an external force simply beating against Frodo's will. This pattern will become much more dominant as the Ring grows in strength. The common factor that seems to distinguish the two is the proximity of black riders. Somehow their presence seems to enhance the Ring's influence on Frodo.
For the second factor, we know of two other times when Frodo hesitates to reveal the nature of his quest. The first is when he's confronted by the conspirators at Crickhollow; the second is when he hesitates to discuss anything important with Strider. In the first case, Frodo fears for his friends' safety, and he only opens up to them when it becomes clear that they already know a great deal about the quest. In the second, he simply distrusts Strider, because Frodo does not wish to risk revealing the quest to a spy. In both of these instances, the reader is invited to infer that Frodo's caution stems at least partially from Gandalf's charge in chapter 2: "I don't think you need to go alone not if you know anyone that you can trust...and that you would be willing to take into unknown perils...Be careful what you say, even to your closest friends. The enemy has many spies and many ways of hearing."
Gandalf's caution and secretiveness seem to carry themselves even into Rivendell. Gloín even remarks to Frodo that Gandalf and Elrond seem reluctant to discuss Frodo's errand. It's therefore entirely rational for Frodo to maintain that reticence, though that does not rule out a rationalization.
Based only on how the Ring influenced Frodo in the absence of the black riders, a ring-induced rationalization can't be ruled out. Frodo's reluctance to speak to Gloín doesn't follow either the Crickhollow or the Strider pattern, so the only thing he'd have to fall back on is Gloín's statement and Gandalf's warning. I started out as a skeptic about the rationalization argument, but the evidence supports that view more than I'd first thought.
