Everyone fastens on the part about him "hating killing". Well, was he
really so different? Does it ever say that Boromir "loved killing"? I
never liked Boromir, but I never thought he was a psychopathic type,
just not very thoughtful. It was Boromir's business to be a warrior,
and when you're a warrior you sometimes have to kill people and that's
that. I imagine if you asked him he'd say, "What? What's the point of
all that worrying? It's got to be done, so let's get it over and get
onto the next set of marauding minions of the Dark Lord." My husband
used to play rugby with a lot of guys like Boromir. But then, he played
rugby with a lot of guys like Faramir, too. Thoughtful guys, sensitive
guys, who, like their buddies, loved to grunt and roll around in the
dirt.
That's where Faramir differs, as Varda implies below. He THINKS about
things. He understands consequences. Since he's never been expected to
be the Big Shot, he's had time to think things out.
I never saw him as the skinny little brother, totally overshadowed by
his big brother. I think he was a big guy, like Boromir, and just as
adept at warrior skills. But I think there was a lot more to him, and
that he was a better man, or at any rate, a better man for our ideas
nowadays. Boromir was always having to live up to expectations, and it
seems to have suited him. But I think it stunted his "spiritual" side,
though I hate that word!!! I think he felt the weight of the White
City, and of his father, with every breath he drew. I think it gave him
blinders, so that he never allowed himself to see beyond.
Someone in the book says, "Sometimes it's better to be overlooked". Was
it Merry or Pippin? Well, Faramir was overlooked, so we are told, for
much of his life. It gives you a kind of freedom, to be overlooked. It
maybe allowed him the freedom to grow into his own kind of man.
I also know, from many readings of the book, that Faramir was no wimp.
He could fight and kill with the best of them. He could do something
much harder, too, he could send other men to their deaths if he had to.
And then, when it was all over, he understood what he had done. That
somewhere in Middle Earth, maybe right in his own White City, there
were children left fatherless, wives widowed because of his strong arm
and sharp sword, or because of his orders. He fought despite being
afraid, and I know he had compassion for other men who were afraid. He
would never sneer at anyone whose hand shook, or who vomited out of
fear. He'd been there, and done that. His men loved him, we are told
that. Well, of course they did. He cared about them.
Boromir might have felt such fear, but I think he had the capacity to
deny it. I think he was that kind of man. Bluff and hard, seemingly
thoughtless. Maybe his way, after the battle, was to get drunk. Who
knows? Those are things Tolkien never told us. Would his men have loved
him? Yes, I think they did. They would have loved what they SAW: a man
without fear, strong, trustworthy, who would always do his duty. His
strength would give them strength, they would imitate him, if it killed
them.
Faramir and Aragorn were much alike. Warriors whose prowess was
admired, whose deeds of courage and daring were the stuff of songs. But
both men would always look for another way, to find a way without
killing, if it could be found. Both men took their responsibilities
seriously, to their hearts, both men would remember every man who ever
fought and died beside them. Who besides Faramir would remember Boromir
as kindly as Aragorn did? Who understood him better? His father?
Denethor had a lot to regret, and he was no dummy. Maybe he understood
what he'd done, to both of his sons.
