Happy Tuesday!
So much of The Fellowship of the Ring concerns the journeys of the main characters, whether it be quests for knowledge, duty, or self-discovery. Do you think the characters (main and secondary) choose to go on these quests of their own free will, or are they compelled by fate and/or circumstances?
I think it varies from character to character. Technically, they all chose to be a part of the Fellowship of their own free will, but their personal quests often became very different from what they thought they were getting into. Did that make any sense?
Take Merry and Pippin. They chose to follow Frodo on his quest out of friendship and perhaps with some spirit of adventure. Therefore, free will. But they didn't know how the quest would change them, mature them. This adventure is their coming-of-age, in a way. In FotR, they're still mainly tagalongs, but in TTT and especially RotK they really grow up. They learn what it is to serve something greater than themselves, to set their own petty issues aside in favor of a greater cause. They did not choose to alter themselves like this; it was the result of circumstances imposed by their initial decision to join Frodo.
Frodo also did not choose his quest. He agreed to destroy the Ring, but he had no idea that he would end up fighting himself, his own desires. His is a largely internal battle, and he loses himself in the process. Frodo really loses the most on this quest, and he known the extent of self-sacrifice required, he might not have gone along with it. Fate, circumstances, what have you, the path Frodo ends up on is not one of his own choosing.
The other characters are similar; they choose to go on a quest, but their actual, personal quest is not quite of their choosing. Bah. I wish I had a better way of explaining what I mean. Tough question, innit?
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