Reading “The Lord of the Rings”: Chapter 10: “The Breaking of the Fellowship” (Book Two)

And so we come at last to the final chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring. As the chapter opens, the Fellowship has to decide what their next step will be, whether to go to Minas Tirith with Boromir or to head straight to Mordor to see to the destruction of the Ring. While Frodo takes time to think, he’s confronted by Boromir, who tries to take the Ring. The hobbit flees and, having decided he can no longer stay with the Fellowship — and having had a close encounter with the Eye of Sauron — he sets out on his own, though he is accompanied by the stubborn Sam. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship begins to fall apart in the wake of Boromir’s betrayal and Frodo’s flight.

Poor Boromir. It’s hard not to feel sorry for the man. Though he has clearly fallen into evil — seduced by the Ring into believing that he should have it so that he can bring about the redemption of his city and his people — there’s something pitiable about him. After all, he does eventually come to himself after his attempt to take the Ring by violence, and he leaps to do Aragorn’s bidding when the other man tells him to protect the other hobbits who have gone off to look for Frodo. The scene in which Boromir makes his final descent is terrifying, not only because he clearly towers over Frodo but also, and just as significantly…