Poor Frodo Baggins receives constant criticism for not casting the One Ring into Mount Doom, but J.R.R. Tolkien already explained why the Hobbit is still a hero in Peter Jackson's movie trilogy by Elijah Wood) stands up at Rivendell and declares he will take Ring to Mordor, the wise souls around him all concur there's no other option. Any attempt to reach Mount Doom by force will fail, but a Hobbit or two - unseen and unheeded - can under the roving eye of Sauron. For leagues, Frodo endures the Ring's corrupting impact, but at the very end, standing on the edge of Mordor's fiery crack, the Hobbit can't bring himself to let the trinket burn.
You've seen the memes. There's the one where everyone at Aragorn's coronation bows to the Hobbits but Frodo looks shifty because he was "totally going to keep the Ring." There's Gandalf drawing a gun and warning him, "Sam told me everything." That's just the tip of the iceberg, with plenty more riffs and variations that humorously throw shade at Frodo for trying to keep the One Ring upon reaching his molten destination, and how Gollum's lack of coordination truly saved Middle-earth. While the memes are all in good fun, they raise a larger question over whether Frodo deserved the plaudits he received upon returning from Mordor.
It's a conversation that has been rumbling for almost 70 years and, fascinatingly, has been addressed by Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien himself. In his published letters, Tolkien explained the increased effect of the Ring inside Mount Doom, acknowledging, "At the last moment the pressure of the Ring would reach its maximum - impossible, I should have said, for anyone to resist, certainly after long possession." With this knowledge, it becomes clear that Frodo's refusal to cast the Ring into Mount Doom was inevitable, with absolutely no element of choice, stubbornness, or selfishness involved. The Ring's hold is strongest at its source, and anyone - no matter their species or status - would've done the same. Isildur suffered that pressure 3000 odd years prior... and he didn't bear the Ring anywhere near as long.
J.R.R. Tolkien also reaffirmed the true purpose of Frodo's quest. Rather than declaring Frodo's mission a failure because he didn't personally dropkick the One Ring into Mount Doom's crack, Tolkien described his main protagonist as an "instrument of providence," who, "Produced a situation in which the object of his quest could be achieved." In other words, Frodo's success isn't diminished because he faltered at the final hurdle. Rather, Frodo is justifiably celebrated for enduring the Ring all the way from The Shire to Mordor, where a rare chance at Sauron's destruction could be engineered. Even without putting the cherry on the cake, Frodo's feats are beyond what could've been expected, and his eventual succumbing deserves to be viewed through a lens of mercy. Few others in Middle-earth (if anyone) could've done the same - even greats such as Galadriel, Gandalf and Aragorn.
Finally, Tolkien's letters confirm the failure of Frodo's final task was not lost on the Hobbit himself. The way The Return of the King ends (the movie far more than the book), it seems Frodo stays ignorant to his shortcomings, ively accepting the adulation that comes his way, including a one-way ticket to the Undying Lands. In fact, Frodo not only felt enduring guilt at his temptation to keep the Ring, but not becoming the hero he envisioned dealt a blow to his Hobbit pride, and that nagging feeling grew the longer Frodo dwelt in Bag End upon his return.
Tolkien's perspective on Frodo's failure to resist the Ring at Lord of the Rings' final hurdle debunks the notion that he didn't deserve glorifying after the fact. It's also hard to criticize Frodo knowing the magnitude of what he achieved, and the invisible forces he faced upon strolling into Mount Doom, Ring in hand. Are the memes funny? Absolutely. Do they also downplay the complexity of Frodo's challenge and his role as an instrumental of good? Very probably.
