Denethor’s end, when it comes, is both tragic and yet utterly pointless. The pyre that he has prepared in the House of the Stewards is intended to be a magnificent gesture in which he will declare his freedom from tyrants whoever they are, Dark Lord or White Rider. And he will take his son with him so that he too will not fall into the hands of others. And yet at the last it is but a small, mean thing in the light of the events of the day. Peter Jackson portrays this well in his film showing the flaming body of Denethor at first filling the screen before suddenly pulling the camera back as if to a great distance so that Denethor’s fall becomes just another incident within a great battle. The words of King Lear come to mind as he rails impotently at his daughters,
“I will have such revenges on you both that all the world shall- I will do such things- what they are I know not but they shall be the terrors of the earth.”
As with Saruman it is a palantir that is revealed at the moment of crisis. Denethor shows it to Gandalf with furious pride as the symbol of his so-called freedom.
“Didst thou think that the eyes of the White Tower were blind? Nay, I have seen more than thou knowest, Grey Fool. For thy hope is but ignorance. Go then and labour in healing! Go forth and fight! For a little space you may triumph on the field, for a day. But against the Power that now arises there is no victory.”
Note what Denethor says, that to hope is mere ignorance and folly and that to know is to be certain of the victory of darkness. Saruman, if he were present, would say much the same thing. He too is corrupted by what he believes that he knows though there is a difference between them. Saruman is so convinced of his own greatness that he believes that he can become the ally of Sauron. He even believes that his own ringlore might enable him to out manoeuvre the Dark Lord. Denethor has no such illusion. He knows that the triumph of Mordor will inevitably mean his own enslavement and so refuses to become the ally of Sauron. But both Saruman and Denethor are corrupted by what they believe that they know.
So is Tolkien saying that all knowledge must lead to corruption and despair? Is it, as Denethor accuses Gandalf, that to hope must mean to be ignorant? Even from our knowledge of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings we know that Denethor’s accusation is untrue. The Council of Elrond makes it clear that Gandalf is entirely aware of Sauron’s strength. There is also the wonderful passage in which Galadriel declares, “I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought. But still the door is closed!”
So it is not knowledge that corrupts Denethor and Saruman just as it is not ignorance that sustains the hope and the defiance of Gandalf or of Galadriel. What precedes knowledge in each of these figures is a fundamental moral choice. When Frodo offers the Ring, first to Gandalf and then to Galadriel, we are made aware of the inner struggle through which both of them have gone. And we see both of them reject the Ring and the power that it could bring to them. Both choose the possibility of defeat rather than the kind of victory that would be gained through the Ring. Such a victory would be entirely catastrophic. Denethor and Saruman have failed to make this choice, this fundamental rejection of evil and of despair. Denethor may not have chosen to be an ally to evil as Saruman has but his belief in the ultimate triumph of evil makes him an ally whether he wills it or not. And our fundamental moral choices will determine which side we will choose at the moment of crisis.
Wisdom from The Lord of the Rings 
Yes, tragic and pointless. He does not want to give up power to anyone, whether to Sauron or to Aragorn, so flees into death before someone forces him to step down. What I find so interesting is that Aragorn sees the same thing Denethor does in the palantir – the Corsair ships coming toward Minas Tirith – and the men have entirely different reactions to it. Denethor freaks out and kills himself. Aragorn chooses action, to even embrace the dread Paths of the Dead, which he had feared to go on before but does so now because he knows it is his Road to trod.
Namarie, God bless, Anne Marie 🙂
I had forgotten about Aragorn, who as you so rightly say, looked into the very same Stone that Saruman did and chose an entirely opposite path. Thank you so much! Every blessing.
Our choices indeed determine who we are. Even a defeat can turn into a victory if one’s conscience is clear. That kind of defeat would be noble.
It reminded me of Dumbledore’s words to Harry on his sorting into Gryffindor while the Hat wanted to put him into Slytherin. And it was Harry’s wish to avoid Slytherin that actually put him into Gryffindor. So he chose the good side not being entirely sure how well he’d do there instead of going to the notorious Slytherin where, according to the Hat, he would definitely have succeeded.
Dumbledore shows Harry something fundamental here and we are never too young to learn the lesson. If only Saruman had learnt the lesson that success matters less than choosing the light. I also think about Sirius Black and Remus Lupin telling Peter Pettigrew that they would have chosen to die rather than betray James and Lilly Potter.
Some characters are so unable to grasp these fundamental truths. Hence the downfall, at least partially. Being too selfish and ambitious to see the difference between the good and the evil.
In the case of Peter Pettigrew it was a mixture of fear and his desire for some kind of greatness. His friends did not know the true meaning of Wormtail until it was too late.
Nice blogg thanks for posting
Thanks for letting me know that you liked it, Camila.