The Lord of the Rings film series are a trilogy and one of the best epic fantasy mythological films. The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson, is a movie based on the novel written by J.R.R.Tolkien. My goal in this paper is to review the heroics of the fictional protagonist Frodo Baggins, describe how his experiences are universal to the humankind, and how Frodo is considered a model by which people can comprehend their experience and cope with enormous and often mysterious task of being human.
Hobbits are usually not considered humans; however they are known to be relatives of the human race of men. They are very timid creatures, and never considered to have great courage to perform amazing achievements under any appropriate situations; however, the heroics demonstrated by the good- hearted Frodo Baggins, the hobbit is remarkable, who ventures out of the Shire for the first time in his life along with his friend Sam, and takes up the responsibility to carry the mystical ring to the fire pits of Mordor and destroy it and its magical powers, on his perilous quest to save the middle earth from Sauron, the Dark Lord. Though, Frodo being a hobbit, and without any mystic powers, he is gifted to withstand the power of the ring better than others. Frodo takes up the initiative and volunteers for the quest that forms the fellowship of the ring. Frodo and the fellowship of heroes encounter many death threatening obstacles during their quest to Mordor; Frodo exhibits his patience and the willingness to face all the problems as he is determined to do away with the ring. As Frodo understands that the negative power of the ring is increasing by the passing time, and it will have corrupt influences on the fellowship, he decides to go alone to Mordar to save the fellowship from being separated.
Frodo experiences the brutalities of life when he moves out of Shire; a place considered as beautiful, and beloved by its inhabitants. He gets to know various people who strive to increase their power by trying to grab the mystical all powerful ring from him. Frodo experiences that the power can make a human cruel and greedy to rule on other people. He learns that Gollum, a hobbit in his early days was called Smeagol, however when he found the ring, its negative powers ruled over him for many years and he lost everything. The possession of the ring can be immensely dangerous to ruin a complete mankind. Frodo, also presents his motivational skills when he asks his friend Sam, who had never been out of Shire to step ahead from the boundary and join him. When in woods, Frodo sympathizes with Sam when the latter does not feel sleepy. Frodo also shows great respect to his mentor Gandalf, and listens to his every word carefully and follows it. Frodo could have used the ring to be the most powerful person on earth and rule everyone; however he did not choose to do so, as he was aware that the power of the ring can only bring destruction to the mankind. The present mankind wants authority, power to earn more, power to achieve more in life, and power to live more. We will not find many Frodo’s with us who can be willing to destroy a magical element that can make us more powerful.
The film has a lot of mythological elements that prove to be life savers for Frodo, and the fellowship of the ring. Even the enemies of the ring bearer Frodo are in the form of beasts, and birds that spy on the whereabouts of the ring and inform their master, Saruman. The little ring that creates so much fear and doubt is a great myth.
Being a human we may have hidden desires that are not shared with anyone, except our self. We need a lot of self-control to hide the feelings of cruelty, greediness or any anti-social activity that is dangerous to mankind, however when we get an anti-social opportunity to improve our prestige in the society, we may think to go ahead with it and achieve it. The success achieved by this method is temporary as any evil performed always leads to ruthless results. Frodo could read the mind of the people who were supporting him, and who were against him in destroying the ring. He never gave any opportunity to himself to be lured by the powers of the ring. It’s a great lesson to us by Frodo to support the good and the mankind, and never be a slave of power.
