Quote:
But Bilbo did not have his "Gollum."
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Oh, didn't he? I believe he did. It was just
much smaller to begin with, had less time to grow at the hands of the Ring, and had less of a medium for development (the Ring's stay with Bilbo did not begin with a malicious act by Mr. Baggins, as it did with Gollum, and the Shire is not exactly the most conducive place for one's evil side to take form). The negative affect of the Ring on Bilbo was somewhat apparent in the scene wherein Gandalf tried to convince him to leave the Ring to Frodo.
As Imladris so aptly stated, Smeagol/Gollum's regrets about his former life were probably manifold. He hated his ascent into pschizophrenic 'Gollumity' (a word I made up in the 'Did You Trust Gollum?' thread [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] ), hated the Ring (and therefore regretted the day he obtained the Ring by murdering his companion) and generally regretted leaving his former life behind.