In what sense is the ending of the novel ironic? ?

lord of the rings

This is for lord of the Rings return of the King

1. Frodo was appointed the task of Ring-bearer to destroy the One Ring by casting it into the fiery depths of Mount Doom and thus to get rid of it for all eternity. however, after all of the indescribable suffering and effort it took to arrive at the actual chasm of Mount Doom and the ability to put an end to all evil was within reach of his hand, Frodo was unable to give it up...instead, he succumbed to the evil power of the Ring and took it for himself. in fact, it was Gollum who ultimately cast the ring into the fire and without the wretched creature, the Ring would not have been destroyed and the entire Quest would have been in vain. Tolkien definitely utilizes irony in this passage.  

2. the Witch-king of Angmar was defeated by two of the most unlikely heroes, a woman in disguise and a Hobbit, namely Éowyn and Pippin. the Witch-king, Lord of the Nazgûl, was Sauron's deadliest and most feared servant who thought he was invincible for 'no man could kill him', according to a legendary prophecy. even Gandalf couldn't even defeat him during a brief showdown between the two (as shown in a scene from the movie before the Rohirrim arrive upon the siege of Minas Tirith). instead, the Witch-king met his demise at the sword of a woman who was forbidden to fight by her kin and of a Hobbit, a creature whom many doubted of their strength in battle.  

oh! and another idea that just popped into my head is how ironic it is that in all these years leading up to the great climactic events of the War of the Ring, Aragorn - the destined King, heir to the throne of Gondor, and the last descendant of the Dúnedain (which is all a pretty impressive lineage if you ask me!) - chose to instead cloak himself in the lifestyle of a Ranger and go into exile, rather than face his fate. of course, Aragorn realizes his destiny and becomes the King he was born to be...thus the "Return of the King"! :D

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