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Originally Posted by Essex
Don't you see how perfect it is that Gollum just fell? If he was pushed or fell over in a tussle, then my point on Redemption a few posts ago would not stand.
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I also think it is perfect that Gollum simply fell in.
The books begin with Gandalf asking Frodo if he could kill Gollum, if he would not feel pity for him, and they end without Frodo killing Gollum, as Gollum simply trips. Frodo could not have pushed Gollum into the fires under his right mind, as he had lost it, so if he had pushed him in, then it would have been an act of rage in an attempt to gain mastery himself; Frodo's 'victory' may have been cheapened by this. If Frodo
had regained his mind, then pushing Gollum in may not even have occurred to him at that point; again, if it
had, then the victory would be different.
In some respects, at that point what we may
expect will happen next is that Gollum will pull Frodo in with him, or that Frodo will sacrifice himself to take Gollum over the edge. We often see this kind of self-sacrificing ending in modern fiction and film, even Peter Jackson played on this possibility.
But Tolkien side-stepped all the obvious possibilities, even the idea of Sam finishing Gollum and the Ring off. It could be seen as risky to go for the 'Gollum slipped' option, as it is undramatic, nobody is made a hero, it's almost slapstick. It could also have been a huge anticlimax. I think it is pulled off only because Gollum himself is made out as a complex character, not a bad guy, but not good either. The death of Gollum and destruction of the Ring are unglorious, which demeans Sauron and his 'power', and uneventful as befits an ambiguous character.
Of course, this simple ending also leaves us with endless possibilities to discuss whether Eru had a hand in this or not, too.
