[Keyan]

Good debate here.

What I have always thought is that Frodo is the most uncorruptable person in Middle Earth. Even after possessing the ring for quite some time, he STILL offers it freely to Galadriel. I would think if he had any even remote desire to be the lord of the ring he would never have done this.

I feel that if the ring is in the possession of someone who does not desire power, it acts in a more subtle and sinister way. It becomes precious to the owner. As Isuldur says "Though I bear it with a great pain, I will risk no harm to the ring, it is precious to me" (paraphrased from memory). It begins to take over the bearer's mind by twisting that person's love and loyalty to be directed towards the ring. It begins to make them obsess about it, until finally they can risk no harm to it. It's a survival mechanism. In the hands of someone with ambition to rule, it's path to corruption is simple and swift, in the hands of someone with no such desires, it has to work more slowly. It preserves their life so it has more time to corrupt them, or else it would risk having to start over again on a new bearer. I think Bilbo's obsession with it, even after managing to give it away, shows just how compelling this indoctrination can be.

I think, that in the end, the ring simply had more willpower. It made Frodo go mad when he was presented with the choice to harm the ring, or to do the only other option - take it for his own. He simply could not fight the desire to protect it from all harm.

The huge irony, and one I think is often overlooked, is that the Ring's own survival mechanism led to its own destruction. So completely had it controlled Gollum that he would suffer no other to have his precious. In his mindless glee of having the ring finally back in his possession, he did the one thing that no bearer had ever been able to do when the choice was presented consciously - he destroyed it.