[JenB]

Again we're discussing Boromir - what is this fascination we see with him? Maybe his failings make him more human than many of the other characters? But ok, I'm all for pick on Faithful Jewel.

His best trait is his devotion to his people and city. Unfortunately this is also his downfall. There is a sense, in Tolkien, that what we most want is the thing that is most dangerous to us. Frodo originally wants only to live in the Shire; had he remained there after all that had happened to him, who knows what torment he might have gone through. We don't really need to spell out how bad Gollum's desire for the Ring was for him. In Silmarillion Feanor's desire for the silmaril wreaks havoc on Middle-Earth. Boromir is another example of this principle. He wants to save his city, so he doesn't really fight the call of the Ring, I think. It is playing on his greatest weakness.

[Sam Cree]

I much more empathized with the Boromir of the movie, the scene of his death was heartbreaking. I saw him in the book as kind of a jerk, though I believe Tolkien saw him as heroic, at least at the end.

[Carolina]

I'm reminded of how Elijah the prophet whined to God that he was the only one who hadn't bowed down to Baal. And God said to him, in essence, "What makes you think you're the only one?"

Boromir has this all-consuming zeal for Gondor that he believes his birthright confers on him. No one can possibly understand the gravity of his responsibility to Gondor.

There is this haunting desperation in his desire to save it, as though some part of him wonders if he's up to the task.