Captivity in the tower of Cirith Ungol is, from Frodo's perspective, the ultimate "hopeless situation": Yet he was wrong to despair

Over at the Notion Club Papers, and using an example from The Lord of the Rings, I discuss how no situation is ever hopeless, and no situation ever justifies despair - for one who inhabits the divinely created world of a good God. 

And, on the other hand, it is despair itself that cuts us off from valid grounds for hope.