Sunday, April 19, 2015

Nietzsche's Ubermensch in Relation to Lord of the Rings


           In the movie Lord of the Rings, the characters in the Middle Earth displayed both being Ubermensch material and some that did not meet those expectations. Two of the characters that did meet criteria for them to be an Ubermensch are Frodo Baggins and Arwen. The characters that did not meet the standards for an Ubermensch are Boromir and Bilbo Baggins

Frodo Baggins
           Frodo Baggins represents being worthy of an Ubermensch because he goes through "the spirit becom[ing] a lion who would conquer his freedom and be master in his own desert" and he takes the ring to "create new value." Frodo takes the ring not because he has to but because he wants to get rid of it. When he goes to the Rivendell , which is the home of the elves, and he sets the ring down. As everyone fights about it Frodo screams that he will be the one to destroy the ring. This exhibits bravery on new levels. The 9 Nazgul are after him and he still volunteers himself to take the ring even at the risk of death. Frodo then receives the line from Gandalf that "to bear the power of the ring is to be alone" which then shows Frodo going through the lions faze because the lion is his own being and has no one to guide him. At the end of the movie when Frodo and Sam get on a boat and go across the lake by themselves, Aragorn says "Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands" which represents Frodo creating a new value and going off on his own. 


.           Arwen represents being an Ubermensh because her love for Aragorn was so strong that she was willing to "create a new value" by giving up her peoples immortality. She gives him her necklace and tells him that it is hers to give away. She then proceeds to tell him that she would rather live one life with love than a thousand lives alone. This shows that she is completely willing to change the value of her people and whatever will change and happen to them.
Arwen
Arwen 

Boromir 
         Boromir does not meet the criteria of being considered an Ubermensch because he does not have a strong will power. He recognizes his own misdoing by saying "then you did what I could not, I tried to take the ring from him."he is not strong enough to be around the ring and he cannot be the one that guides Frodo alone. He also attacks Frodo when he is near him with the ring. He says all these things to Frodo but he really wants the ring for himself. This is also demonstrated when everyone is in Rivendell and he tells everyone to use the power of the ring against the enemy instead of destroying it.
Bilbo
Bilbo Baggins 

             Bilbo Baggins does not exhibit the character traits of being an Ubermensch because he is not strong minded and not capable of not caving into the rings demands. At his birthday party, as he is leaving the Shire, he has the ring in his pocket and has a hard time giving it up. He says to Gandalf that the ring is "his own, it's mine, my precious" which he says in a memorized voice with a deepened look on his face. Bilbo is only looking out for himself and he doesn't really care about the well-being of others including his nephew Frodo. He has had the ring for  so long he doesn't know what to do without it.

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