A Study of the Best Character in the Fellowship
Growing up, I was always the awkward, weird kid who quoted movies no one knew, referenced esoteric internet memes, and was generally annoying and weird. In 10th grade, I was in a debate class that had every grade level. In the class were 3 seniors who had to take an elective to finish out their credits to graduate. In that class was this tall dude named James, and he was always cool to me. It was very easy to not interact with me because I talked about World of Warcraft, was going through puberty, didn’t understand my emotions, and so on.
Lucky for me, James also played World of Warcraft.
Imagine my surprise when, one day, while we are working on researching a topic on the computers and the different arguments we’ll make, James stops and looks at me and says, “Nate, do you ever get bullied?”
At first I was a little taken aback because James was super funny and boisterous but didn’t seem like he cared what I thought. I’m a sophomore and he’s a senior, and that’s just how it was.
I looked back at him and, not knowing what else to say, “Yeah, I get made fun of from time to time.”
James looked me dead in the eye and he said, “Well, next time someone starts picking on you, tell me and I’ll beat the shit out of them.”
That has always stuck with me, not because of James’ personality or his crazy humor, but because he was willing to throw down for some kid he barely knew but that he knew was in a disadvantaged situation.
James, with his desire to stick up for the disenfranchised, the less fortunate, reminds me of one of the greatest characters in all of fantasy fiction: Boromir, Captain of Gondor, son of Denethor, brother to Faramir.
For the sake of brevity, I will focus on one particular scene that I estimate as one of the most poignant, powerful scenes in all of cinema: the last stand of Boromir in the Battle of Amon Hen and his subsequent death and departure.
Frodo leaves the Fellowship to decide his next move, and Boromir eventually goes after him and tries to take the Ring. Frodo escapes by putting on the Ring and leaves Boromir distraught and penitent. As the Uruk-hai converge on the Fellowship and the members of the company fight to survive the onslaught, Merry and Pippin become separated from the others and appear to face certain death.
As an axe-wielding orc bears down on them, raising his weapon above his head, Boromir, the Captain of the White Tower, runs and catches the axe mid-swing, kicks the orc and kills him. He proceeds to defend the two halflings with his life. He fights furiously, and the strength of his sword is matched only by the ringing call he pushes through the Horn of Gondor. Orc after orc attack Boromir and are killed; their shields are beaten back and forth and slaughtered.
And then, Boromir is shot in the chest with an arrow.
Surely, this is the end for our hero. He defended the hobbits, but he would be felled by an arrow, no?
Instead, Boromir rises to his feet, yelling and continuing to fight with the strength of ten men.
Another arrow pierces his body. Another moment where Boromir falls to his knees.
And again, Boromir rises. He continues to fight, to defend Merry and Pippin from an awful fate. He continues to battle and slaughter orcs until, at last, a third arrow strikes him, he cannot continue, and the hobbits are taken before his very eyes.
He faces certain death with honor and pride. He does not look away staring at an orc drawing an arrow to a bowstring. He looks up and accepts that, yes, he has not completed his mission but he will face his failure.
And then, as we are viewing Boromir facing his death with dignity and honor, Aragorn, the Ranger of the North that Boromir viewed with disdain at the beginning comes and tackles Lurtz, thwarting his attempted execution of Boromir. They battle, and Aragorn’s skill overcomes the Uruk-hai, and he joins Boromir at the base of a tree, and the ensuing conversation is one of the most beautiful scenes in film.
“They took the little ones!” Are his first words. “Frodo! Where is Frodo?”
“I let Frodo go.”
“Then you have done what I could not. Forgive me—I did not see.”
“No Boromir! You fought bravely. You have regained your honor.”
“Leave it! It is over. The world of men will fall, and all will come to darkness, and my city to ruin. . .”
“I do not know what strength lies in my blood. But I will not let the White City fall, nor our people fail.”
“. . .Our people. Our people. I would have followed you my brother; my captain; my King.”
Boromir did not make every correct choice. He attempted to take the One Ring from Frodo. He broke the oath in which he swore to protect Frodo. But as soon as he did break that oath, he realized the terrible thing which he had done, and immediately set about making it right. He was never able to do that with Frodo, but he did with Merry and Pippin. He defended them with his life.
Boromir often gets a lot of unnecessary hate from fans of the films. He is seen as brash, arrogant, and somewhat of a villain. He acts as a foil to Aragorn, highlighting the future king of Gondor’s various good qualities. But beneath the surface, Boromir is fiercely loyal, kind, observant, and quick to defend his friends.
Boromir repeatedly defends those who cannot defend themselves. He spars with Merry and Pippin, he tells Gandalf that if they do not get off Caradhras, it will be the death of the hobbits; he saves Frodo from the Watcher in the Water and is the first to realize that Moria is not what Gimli thought it was. After Gandalf falls with the Balrog, he urges Aragorn to flee, but also is fiery with Aragorn—“Give them a moment, for pity’s sake!” He yells. In that moment he is not thinking about himself or the future—he is thinking about the hobbits, and how they all have lost a true friend and guide in Gandalf.
Boromir’s selfless sacrifice and desire to put others before himself is an admirable trait all of us should seek to cultivate. His desire to use the Ring comes not out of a place of arrogance but desperation and desire to save his people. He is not thinking of himself, but of the entire realm of Gondor and the free peoples of Middle-earth.
Boromir is my favorite character in the Fellowship, and upon further examination, I hope he’s yours as well.
Nate Livsey 