Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. ‘What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!’ ‘Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. He takes a literal leap of faith over Gollum and makes his running escape down the tunnel: “No great leap for a man, but a leap in the dark.” (The Hobbit, p.80)ĭecades later, Frodo realizes that he must destroy the Ring, and hears that Gollum has likely betrayed the name of Baggins to Sauron. His prudence tells him that killing Gollum would be the surest thing, but Bilbo somehow understands Gollum’s misery and chooses to spare the life of a creature who would very much have liked to eat him. He must get by Gollum, who blocks the passage, to survive. When the Ring first comes into Bilbo’s possession in The Hobbit, he invisibly follows Gollum to the exit leading out of an underground labyrinth. But to examine the crux of the tale, we must go back to a scene many years before our story. In this article we will trace the acts of mercy that lead to the climax of The Lord of the Rings: the Ring’s destruction at Mount Doom. Once you understand the crux, you can see and better understand the rest of the story in relation to it. Like an onion, it has many layers that have to be peeled away so we can get to the center where everything intersects, the story’s crux. ![]() 54 by Br Eric Gilhooly, LC.Īt the center of a good story lies a key action that defines the whole work and that depends on a specific value and worldview. Finding the Crux of The Lord of the Rings was originally published in In-Formarse no.
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