** TROTK - Failing the test

At the last moment, Frodo decides to keep the Ring. He passed many tests on his way to get here, but he failed this final test at Mount Doom.
Mount Doom inthis case suggests the weakness and darkness that exists even in the most pure-hearted, a lure so powerful that even the most determined voyager needs additional help to resist temptation. Mount Doom also marks the furthest Frodo gets from the security and familiarity of the Shire. He is as out of place at Mount Doom as the Ring was in the Shire, and this is the place where Frodo comes closest to actually giving himself over to evil.