The Wimp

“He’s not weak, you know.”

“What?”

“Valuing life is not weakness. And disregarding it is not strength.”

                                               

                                                            ~ Mirage, “The Incredibles”

The big guns in Transformers. The massive muscles on Thor. This is the picture Hollywood paints for us. And our modern world responds to it gladly.

The fact is that we’re obsessed with appearances. The strong one takes out the most bad guys in five minutes while causing three buildings to blow up. The weak one doesn’t. Probably he spends more time whining than fighting.

“Frodo is such a wimp!”

Despite his status as chief “hero” in the Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins often fails to be in the list of favorite LOTR characters. Aragorn, Boromir, Gandalf and Sam are often much more praised for their daring acts and engaging personalities. And not without reason! Their personal and even physical qualities deserve them praise and recognition. Yet these same people wish to belittle Frodo while championing their own hero. Why is that?

Frodo certainly looks like a wimp on the outside. He even acts like one—at least, sometimes. He drops his sword.  He nearly puts the Ring on in front of a Nazgul and the rest of the world, forcing his best friend to save him. But these instances are not in the book. And even in the films, it seems unfair to base Frodo’s character solely on these less than desirable moments. What about his admirable qualities? Maybe he doesn’t have any. At least, not any obvious ones.

Maybe people don’t like him because he can’t incapacitate ringwraiths wielding a torch and a sword. Or because he doesn’t fight a giant spider with a fierce and admirable loyalty. Why, he can’t even climb up Mount Doom without help. He’s a weakling.

At least, that’s what it looks like. But what is weakness? And what is strength? Webster’s online dictionary contains many definitions for the latter. The first states that strength is: “the quality or state of being strong: capacity for exertion or endurance.” The second states that it is the: “power to resist force: solidity, toughness.”  

The capacity for exertion or endurance—against what? The power to resist force—of what?

Strength is required when one faces any obstacle. The larger the obstacle, the more strength it requires. The most powerful enemy in Middle-earth is contained in one tiny gold Ring. And Frodo must fight it. Not with a sword. With his will.

Sure, he makes mistakes like anyone else. He gives into temptation; he snaps when he doesn’t wish to. He needs both physical and emotional help. But despite every obstacle, he keeps going.

By the time he reaches Mordor, Frodo has traveled miles from home, lost his mentor, said good-bye to his friends, and experienced the treachery of his traveling companion. He is filthy, dehydrated and malnourished. He bears a weight around his neck that bores into his skin. And still he must resist an unbearable temptation. Now, at the foot of Mount Doom, he cannot even stand to climb the mountain.

And so he crawls. The hero of the Lord of the Rings is forced to crawl on his hands and knees to save the world.

It is perfectly natural to judge someone on his or her appearance. However, the ease of this judgment does not mean our feelings are correct. Sometimes we need, to quote Rafiki in “The Lion King 1 ½”, to “Look beyond what you see,” and see the strength inside that may appear small and weak on the outside. Perhaps Pippin says it best when Faramir meditates that his older brother Boromir was always the strong one. “I think you do have strength,” he maintains, “of a different kind.”

So while the basketball star may have the strength to score more points, his ability to make a basket may require less effort than the crippled boy’s ability to stand.  The pretty girl with the lyrical voice has no more reason to want friends than the autistic girl. And though the dying woman can barely even sit up, her attempt at cheerfulness in the midst of breast cancer makes her a greater warrior than the woman who trains for Olympic gold.

These are the men and women who fight the real battle. They are the heroes of our time.

“The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.”

                        ~ Elrond, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

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