: : "Me, Sir!' cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk. 'Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!' he shouted, and then burst into tear."

: : "But you won't send him off alone surely, Master? cried Sam, unable to contain himself any longer...'No indeed!' said Elrond, turning towards him with a smile, 'You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to seperate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.' Sam sat down, blushing and muttering. 'A nice pickle we have landed ourselves in, Mr. Frodo!' he said."

: : I believe the above quotes should emphasize Sam's foolishness or at least his ignorance to the danger he would be going into. Sam is portrayed as well as the Shire as being the child race in Middle-Earth, unaware of the dangers and world around them. Though Sam does play a significant part in the overthrow of Sauron, I ask what differenciates between a hero, a fool, and a soldier.

: : "Now it had come to it, Sam felt reluctant to give up the Ring and burden his master with it again... 'You'll find the Ring very dangerous now, and very hard to bear. If it's too hard a job, I could share it with you, maybe?"

: : It was posted below that Frodo had failed his quest, the above quote should reveal no one who could carried to throw the ring into Mount Doom could. After only a short period of time, Sam had already begun to be controled by the ring. Only Gollum in all Middle-Earth was truly capable of finishing the Quest.

: : And response to Faramir as a hero, his actions were done for the sake of his people and himself. He was born into the role of leadership. He had little choice though still some choice. I understand why Aragorn should be considered a hero, but I see his earlier life as more important than considering his part in the War of the Ring.

: : P.S. Only Tolkien knows why Sam is given the last phrase.

: : You raise a number of good points and questions. As to Hero, fool or soldier, none are mutually exclusive terms. But by way of examples, Hama, Beregond, and though they have greater authority, Faramir, Boromir, Eomer and yes, even Eowyn are soldiers. They all perform brave deeds and act out of duty and loyalty. But as this is their training, I am not sure their actions rise to the level of heroism, perhaps with the exception of Eowyn. (No that is not intended to be sexist.)

As to "fool", it ould be sad if loyalty to ones friend(s), if their actions are well intended would brand one a fool. I doubt Tolkien intended any reader to consider Sam, Merry or Pippin fools. Simple, in a very positive way; at times prone to foolishness, but not fools.

I think Sam was affected by the Ring so strongly and so quickly because of his physical proximity to Sauron. The power of the Ring grew stronger as it neared the end of it's quest. (The One Ring is not neutral, inanimate matter). That Sam was able to resist at all is because he was a Hobbit. Compare that to Boromir, who goes mad temporarily from only the desire of the Ring, (FOTR, The Breaking of the Fellowship)because he is human.

I'm not smart enough or well versed enough to pontificate about which characters are heroes and which are not but I think the answer lies in looking at the character's intent, his action and his expectation. There is a theme of battle against hopelessness
which runs throughout LOTR. The less hope, the lower the expectation of success and overcoming that despair and acting may be a key to deciding a character's heroic nature.