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Because Boromir saw the ring as a weapon. Gondor and the defense of Gondor was his sole thought. Even when he was told that he could not wield the ring... he was still tempted to use the ring not for personal gain, but to defend a people and his country. A noble goal no matter how misguided it ended up being. In the end, he saw that Gandalf and Aragorn were right about the ring... power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. He repented and protected Merry and Pippin to his death.

Sometimes we need to have compassion and understanding when these characters are revealed as frail and flawed (just like people in real life) Most posters (this is only my take) have two thoughts. The characters either aren't flawed at all or too flawed...

But to me, Tolkien did a good job of presenting his characters with strength and weaknesses and he stayed true to those strengths and weaknesses, which is what makes the story riveting.

If after reading the chapter The Council of Elrond you didn't believe that Boromir would try to gain the ring for Gondor's defense then you weren't paying attention. (Not you HOTD -- that's a rhetorical you). The fact that he did, was wonderful. Then... just in life (with some people) understanding came... with understanding came changes.

Thanks, of course you are right. Tolkien gave us not flawed characters, but characters with flaws, characters with very real strengths and weaknesses. Characters that occasionally make choices that turn ill.

We have a lot to learn from Boromir of course. And his place in the story (IMHO) is to encourage us to confront our own curiosity about temptation.

re: Boromir and the Ring

The big problem was Boromir usurping his brother Faramir's call. Both Faramir and Boromir were called in dreams (Boromir once, Faramir several times) to go to Imaldris and seek Isildur's Bane. Had Faramir gone, things might have proceeded differently for the Fellowship (not that it didn't work out all right in the end).

Of Course you are wrong. (just trying to stir up something more provacative than a discussion of recipes here-no offense). Boromir wanted to use the Ring, but WAS NOT committed to the idea of stealing it throughout the Fellowship's journey. He obviously succumbed to its corrupting influence late in the journey, and then redeemed himself. But the idea that he was a scheming bastard all though the second book in the Fellowship is false. He fell off the wagon in a heartbeat. Important distinction. :)