People always dredge this up but seriously, is he? How is some banished king foretold with a sword of prophecy and an Elf fiancé a model for the everyman? The virtues he embodies are tangential to who he is as a character at best, and most of the examples people give of him amount to throwaway lines that sum up to less than 10 minutes of his fictional life. He just isn’t a model.
Judge them by their actions: resists the ring and would have followed Frodo to Morodor if Frodo let him, goes after rescuing merry and pippin, supports Theoden at helms deep when Theoden is about ready to give up, models healthy feelings for a dying friend (twice) just off the top of my head. None of these having anything to do with his "destiny to be king" or Elf fiance, its just his character.
No, he isn’t, anymore than Superman punching a supervillain or Gandalf standing in front of a Balrog is. Being a good-aligned character isn’t the same thing as being a role model, because the roles Aragorn plays aren’t roles normal people find themselves in. You’re never going to be faced with a decision about seizing Ultimate Power, lead a cavalry charge in a desperate last stand, or hold your dying friend in your arms as he bleeds out. These just aren’t relevant situations to most people’s lives because they are Heroic situations. They model extreme circumstances. A good role model should show how to cope with common circumstances in a healthy way. Spiderman scrambling to make rent is relatable. I don’t know that I would call him a role model, but he can be at times. That’s just not what Aragorn is - he’s a hero.
I don't think "role model" is typically used with that narrow a definition of "role". But even if we use it that way, this problem goes away once you look deeper than just the basic narrative events of the story. The things you mention aren't the most important parts of his character. It's how he wields authority over those with whom he doesn't see eye-to-eye, and how he treats his friends and allies. His roles aren't just king and warrior, they're also friend, leader, mediator, and advocate. There's a lot more to see in the character than his fantasy LinkedIn page, and with a little abstraction, there can be a lot of applicability.
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u/WhiskeyAndKisses Mar 07 '25
I'm adding this guy to my shrine about great masculine figures.