Gollum: poetic justice and shadow

[avarerniliel]

Could Gollum survive without the ring?

Hmm...interesting question, there are many that can be drawn out of this conversation. (I wish I was there [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] )I believe Gollum draws a kind of energy, or life force, from the ring. He is so attatched to it that it seems that he can't live without it, even though he can't live with it! It tears his body apart and makes him evil. Gollum could have survived physically without the ring, though mentally, I believe, he would be starved, depressed, and pretty much emotionally dead.

Was Gollum doomed from the start?

Another debatable question. Gollum did seem a little twisted mentally, seeing as how he killed his cousin for a glimpse of shiny metal even before he knew what the ring was. Maybe Gollum was put on ME for a reason, whatever it was, he seemed to carry it out well in the end. If you think about the very name Gollum, you can depict certain parts of his character. Although Smeagol was his real name, it does have a certain sneer to it. Authors will use names for indirect characterization, especially when the characters aren't people. Tolkien, as a brilliant proffeser, did this with Gollum. Gollum wasn't doomed from the start, but he was a little strange, in my opinion. Whew! [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[ March 23, 2002: Message edited by: avarerniliel ]