The “Lord of the Rings,” a classic tale by author J.R.R Tolkien, is a story about defeating evil and fighting for what you know to be right. The books tell the story of a young hobbit who embarks on a quest with his companions to destroy Sauron’s evil Ring and restore goodness to the world.
For the most part, the character dynamics of the story are very stark. The good guys are undoubtedly good, and the bad guys are undoubtedly bad, but for Gollum this isn’t exactly the case.
In the Lord of the Rings movies, Gollum’s backstory was depicted in the 3rd movie of the series. Before he became the Gollum seen in the movie, his name was Smeagol. When he killed his brother so he could steal the Ring of Power, the strongest and most manipulative ring created by the main antagonist Sauron, he was cast out of his home to live alone in a cave. His only possession was the Ring, slowly overtaking his mind. Day by day, the Ring gave him unnatural longevity while reducing him to an obsessive, frail state.
When Bilbo, one of the hobbit protagonists, took the Ring from Gollum, Gollum ached to get it back, so when Frodo and Sam, the two hobbits tasked with destroying the Ring, were on their way to the Land of Mordor to throw the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, he took his chance and tried to steal it back from them. While it backfired and he ended up getting captured, Frodo had empathy for him. He didn’t hurt him and decided to use him to lead them to Mount Doom. Frodo eventually befriended Gollum, he began to regain his old identity and trusting Frodo after years of hating all hobbits. However, this trust was lost, after Faramir and his men captured him and broke his fragile loyalty towards Frodo. Gollum turned on Frodo and led him to the evil spider Shelob’s lair, hoping that she would kill him and he would get the Ring. Frodo survived though, and they were always fighting against each other. Eventually, Frodo was able to get rid of the Ring and Gollum died on Mount Doom after trying to kill Frodo in his last attempt to steal it back.
While Gollum undoubtedly did a lot of bad things, was it really his fault? Was he completely overcome by the power and corruption of the Ring, or was he in control of his actions? Even from the beginning when he killed his brother, the Ring had some sort of control over him. Was he aware of what was happening to him? Did he ever try to stop it? Was his death inevitable or could he have changed his fate? Carrying the Ring was not for the faint of heart, and it was obvious that Gollum was not strong enough for it. Gollum had two personalities: the one that was still connected to his youthful innocence, and the deceptive, evil one that was completely influenced by the Ring. For a moment, as Gollum began to trust Frodo, it seemed that there was still a flicker of hope that he was becoming the hobbit he once was, but once this trust was lost, he could never get it back.
Ultimately, Gollum’s character is very complex, evoking people to hate him while having empathy for him, but one thing is for sure: no one could control the Ring of Power and Gollum was a show of why destroying it was necessary.
