The Importance of Denethor

In The Lord of the Rings, Denethor is the Steward of Gondor, a nation of Men in the south of Middle Earth. He is Steward, not King, because his line is standing in for the true kings of Gondor, which is Aragorn’s lineage. Denethor is an important character because he gathers intelligence for the forces of good. He also helps show that Aragorn is the true king of Gondor, and shows what a character that gives into despair is like.
While leading Gondor as its Steward, Denethor chanced across a Palantir, and looked into it frequently. He used it because he believed he would be able to gather the enemy’s strategy and learn their tactics. He does gather intelligence, but what he sees causes him to lose hope: Mordor had amassed a giant army capable of destroying Gondor. Denethor loses hope in his armies, and failed to conquer the Palantir and ends up despairing. Denethor also helps show that the race of Men is weak and unable to cope with powerful forces like Sauron and the Ring. Aragorn proved he is the true King of Gondor when he looked into the Palantir and mastered it. Someone other than the king would not have the blood of Numenor in their veins and would not be powerful enough to master the Palantir. By mastering the Palantir, Aragorn proves that he is the rightful king and the heir of Isildur, the last king of Gondor.
Denethor also shows the reader what a despairing character looks like. Many bad things happen to Denethor and Gondor during the Lord of the Rings, such as both of his sons’ deaths (although Faramir hadn’t actually died, Denethor just thought he did), and his kingdom being invaded by a seemingly indestructible army bent on destroying his kingdom. Because of this, Denethor despairs and burns himself and tries to burn Faramir alive. None of the other characters show despair quite the way Denethor does, All of them are ready to face the dangers of Middle Earth and beat evil. They are all hesitant, because fighting the forces of evil in Middle Earth is a daunting task, but they are willing and they don’t despair.
Frodo and Sam coped with their trek through Mordor with more success than Denethor had with the Palantir. Throughout the rest of the books, all of the characters are courageous in the face of evil. Frodo and Sam go to Mordor without questioning whether it is the right thing to do or whether or not it is worth risking their lives. Merry swore fealty to Theoden and fought in the battle of Pelennor Fields because he wanted to defend everything he held dear from Sauron. Denethor was unable to cope with the vast armies that invaded his kingdom, and ended up despairing.
As the Steward of Gondor Denethor is an important character because he gathers information for the forces of good, helps show that Aragorn is the true king of Gondor, and reflects upon a character who gives into despair.