At the bridge in Morgul Vale, Frodo once again senses the command to use the Ring. Unlike on Weathertop, his fear does not master him, but his resistance to the Ring has changed. Indeed, he does not resist the Ring’s call so much as fail to answer it—exhausted by the creeping journey and the weight of the burden, “There was no longer any answer to that command in his own will, dismayed by terror though it was, and he felt only the beating on him of a great power from outside.” Without the will to respond, he also does not have the will to prevent his hand from moving toward the Ring—only a supreme effort shifts the hand from the Ring to the phial. When he makes that effort, however, he is rewarded, because the phial banishes the Ring from his thoughts.
The phial is a manifestation of hope, the light of the spirit, and contact with it energizes Frodo’s own hope and spirit. Although it helps at need, it cannot banish all the darkness and evil in the world. Shelob, a creature of insatiable hunger and the greatest evil yet confronted by any member of the Fellowship, backs down from the light, but it does not defeat her. She simply waits for Frodo to let down his guard. With his will nearly destroyed by the ordeal, Frodo becomes giddy and careless, leaving the light behind, and she strikes him down.
As Frodo becomes immersed in his burden, he becomes a less accessible and sympathetic character for readers. In a way he is like Gollum: We can pity him, but we find it difficult to imagine ourselves in his place. Sam, on the other hand, has been a steadfast servant, unswervingly loyal to his master even when Frodo makes what he has considered poor decisions, and during the journey from Parth Galen, he has begun to voice many of the readers’ suspicions. He does not trust Gollum; neither do we. He worries about Frodo; so do we. With Frodo’s collapse, the focus of the narrative shifts to Sam, and it will stay with him to the Cracks of Doom.
