In The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the main character Frodo undergoes a dramatic shift in his attitudes towards capital punishment. His story helps us understand the Church’s recent developments concerning the death penalty.
Early in The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo is adamantly in favor of the death penalty, especially in the case of the creature Gollum. When Frodo hears from Gandalf that Gollum has informed Sauron about the Ring, the Shire, and Bilbo Baggins, Frodo wishes that Gollum was dead. In Sauron’s hands, this knowledge puts Frodo in great danger, because he now possesses the ring and Sauron’s servants will be searching for him, knowing both his home country and his family name.
So, Frodo fears for his life and rightly blames Gollum for this. Frodo says, “What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance! . . . I can’t understand you. Do you mean to say that you, and the Elves, have let him live on after all those horrible deeds? Now at any rate he is as bad as an Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death” (The Fellowship of the Ring, “The Shadow of the Past,” 59). Gandalf does not dispute that Gollum deserves death. On the contrary, he affirms this.
However, he makes two observations. First, Gandalf notes how important it was that Bilbo felt pity for Gollum (in the story told in The Hobbit); it was Bilbo’s pity for Gollum that prevented the ring from corrupting him. Specifically Gandalf says, “Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity” (Ibid.). Second, Gandalf teaches Frodo that dealing out justice is not always the best decision. Mercy can be more powerful and helpful for all parties:
Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many – yours not least.” (Ibid.)
As the story continues, Frodo eventually encounters Gollum. When he does so, Frodo does pity Gollum. He desires to cure Gollum of his wretchedness and obsession with the Ring. Frodo’s companion, Sam, does not share Frodo’s pity. He correctly sees through Gollum’s deceits. Yet, when they are on Mount Doom, about to destroy the Ring, and Gollum again betrays the hobbits, Sam does have his moment of pity for Gollum and spares his life:
Sam’s hand wavered. His mind was hot with wrath and the memory of evil. It would be just to slay this treacherous, murderous creature, just and many times deserved; and also it seemed the only safe thing to do. But deep in his heart there was something that restrained him: he could not strike this thing lying in the dust, forlorn, ruinous, utterly wretched. He himself, though only for a little while, had borne the Ring, and now dimly he guessed the agony of Gollum’s shriveled mind and body, enslaved to that Ring, unable to find peace or relief ever in life again (The Return of the King, “Mount Doom,” 944).
Once again, it would be just to kill Gollum. Yet, Sam pities him and spares his life. So, Bilbo, Frodo (who also hoped for Gollum’s cure), and Sam have all spared Gollum from a just death due to their pity.
Famously, Frodo fails to destroy the Ring. Instead, he claims mastery of it and chooses to use it for his own power. It is only destroyed because Gollum, once again, betrays the hobbits and tries to take the Ring from Frodo. Just as Gollum wrestles the Ring from Frodo’s hand, he teeters over the edge of the volcano and falls into the fire, destroying himself and the Ring.
Frodo immediately remembers Gandalf’s prophecy: “But do you remember Gandalf’s words: ‘Even Gollum may have something yet to do?’ But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end. So let us forgive him! For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over” (The Return of the King, “Mount Doom,” 947). It was only due to the undeserved pity of the hobbits, especially Frodo, that the ring was destroyed. Where their willpower failed, the effects of their mercy succeeded.
Due to this, Frodo learns to value mercy over justice. When the hobbits eventually return to the Shire, they find it overrun with evil men working for Saruman. The hobbits have to rouse their countrymen and drive out the invaders. During the battles, Frodo does not fight. He restrains the others from excessive violence – killing prisoners. When they at last confront Saruman, many hobbits call for his death – justly. Yet Frodo restrains them and insists that they allow Saruman to go free, exiled from the Shire. Spitting in the face of his mercy, Saruman tells Frodo that he is glad he could damage the Shire, and that thought will comfort him during his exile. For this, Frodo pities him” “‘Well, if that is what you find pleasure in,’ said Frodo, ‘I pity you’” (The Return of the King, “The Scouring of the Shire,” 1018).
As Saruman walks past Frodo, he tries to knife him. Frodo’s armor turns the blade. Still, Frodo refuses to allow Saruman’s execution. Mere seconds after Saruman tries to murder Frodo, Frodo is pleading for mercy on his behalf and insists he may yet be redeemed, “He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he may find it” (The Return of the King, “The Scouring of the Shire,” 1019).
Through his experience with Gollum, Frodo learned that mercy and hope are more powerful than strict justice – a thing St. Thomas Aquinas also believes (Summa Theologiae I, q. 21, a. 3, ad 2). Strict justice would have had both Gollum and Saruman executed. But then the Ring would not have been destroyed, and evil would have triumphed. Despite Gollum’s failure to repent, Frodo insists that Saruman might still repent – and so spares him. Frodo never denies the intrinsic justice of capital punishment. Nor does he deny the rightfulness of killing in war, though he personally did not take part in the fighting to reclaim the Shire (priests are also not supposed to participate in fighting even in just wars, and Frodo is a priestly character in The Lord of the Rings).
Frodo’s story helps us understand the Church’s development about the death penalty. Throughout the history of the Church, it has been upheld as intrinsically just – a moral option. Yet, the recent magisterium (including John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae #56), has instructed that it be used as little as possible. This culminated in Pope Francis’s change to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which received various receptions. The Church has not reversed its classical teaching about the intrinsic morality of capital punishment. She, like Frodo, does not deny its basic justice, but she has come to recognize that a better option exists. Like Frodo, we should primarily pity sinners and work for their salvation. This is what the Church teaches us to do.
Picture of Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins in the 2000s Lord of the Rings films from Wikimedia Commons.
Matthew McKenna
Matthew McKenna is a Ph.D. candidate in Theology at Ave Maria University in Florida.
Popular Posts