The World Will Be Yours?

15. April 2008 by Seth.

Recently, I was reading the results of one of those “What Lord of the Rings Character Are You?” quizzes on a friend’s Facebook profile page (you know who you are), and it struck me as rather odd. 

You are: Frodo Baggins.  You’re the main character, the hero, the savior of the world. You’re also kind of short. But that’s the thing - you’ve never let your shortcoming get in the way of success. Be proud - one day the world will be yours.

Anyone who’s read The Lord of the Rings series would probably take to task more than one detail in this rather myopic bio of Frodo Baggins, the hobbit who traverses Middle Earth with the One Ring around his neck determined to see it destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom.

It was the last sentence, though, which I found to be most curious—curious and yet not surprising in Twenty-First Century America.

“Be proud - one day the world will be yours.”

It is probable that whoever wrote this description has never read Tolkien’s masterpiece.  Perhaps he’s only seen the movies once or twice—because, anyone who has an understanding of the purpose of Frodo’s mission must understand that not only is “to rule the world” not part of the game plan, but rather it is indeed a page out of the enemy’s playbook.

Indeed, why does Sauron in the great epic long so much to have the ring once again in his control?  Answer: to rule the world.

Why are men so easily corrupted by the seduction of the ring?  Answer: it promises untold power and dominion over Middle Earth.

If Frodo’s end goal had been that of pride and to own the world, he would merely have had to take the ring for himself and enjoy his short ride as lord of the ring—and lord of Middle Earth.

To confuse his efforts with a lust for pride and world domination is to rewrite the entire story.

The arrogance and thirst for power seen in this short bio should not be surprising, however.  Our individualist society seems to care almost exclusively for themselves.  We turn our backs upon those in need and instead want only to  “look out for numero uno.”

We are also a society of “positive thinking.”  Not only do we seek first our own satisfaction, but we seem to hold the notion that simply thinking about the end goal will somehow get us there.  “Be proud,” and then by some magic device suddenly your dream will come true—”the world will be yours.”

Frodo’s journey was not only one of self-sacrifice.  It was also a long, arduous journey, full of both moments of pride and mishaps of discouragement.  Equating this story with selfish ambition and “positive thinking” misses the point entirely.

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