A complex Gollum - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Jessica Jade · 02-28-2002, 03:31 PM

Hmmm...In Fellowship, Gandalf says that he has hope that Gollum could be cured (of the evil that the Ring twisted him into) even though there was not much hope. Does he mean that Gollum, or Smeagol, used to be a good, kind-hearted jolly hobbit, similar to the likes of Frodo,Sam and the other Shire-folk? To me, it's always appeared that Gollum had a dark side, because even before he killed Smeagol, the book said that he always like to burrow under trees and dig tunnels and all, and that he didn't like the sun (sorry can't quote it right now)...so he was already darker than most hobbits. The murder of Deagol and possessing the ring caused his dark side to take over his good side-but, even though he became mostly evil thereafter, he still had pangs of regret and remorse at having given up his former life (like when he resents Bilbo's description of sun&daisys in the riddle game in The Hobbit, because it reminds him of days when he was less sneaky and evil).

Gollum is complex because he loves and hates the ring, loves and hates himself, and is extremely malicious yet sorrowful at what he has become...he is all those things at the same time. That's probably why those who meet him can't help but pity him.

02-28-2002, 03:31 PM	#19
Jessica Jade Wight Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Tirion upon Túna, Atlanta Posts: 154	Hmmm...In Fellowship, Gandalf says that he has hope that Gollum could be cured (of the evil that the Ring twisted him into) even though there was not much hope. Does he mean that Gollum, or Smeagol, used to be a good, kind-hearted jolly hobbit, similar to the likes of Frodo,Sam and the other Shire-folk? To me, it's always appeared that Gollum had a dark side, because even before he killed Smeagol, the book said that he always like to burrow under trees and dig tunnels and all, and that he didn't like the sun (sorry can't quote it right now)...so he was already darker than most hobbits. The murder of Deagol and possessing the ring caused his dark side to take over his good side-but, even though he became mostly evil thereafter, he still had pangs of regret and remorse at having given up his former life (like when he resents Bilbo's description of sun&daisys in the riddle game in The Hobbit, because it reminds him of days when he was less sneaky and evil). Gollum is complex because he loves and hates the ring, loves and hates himself, and is extremely malicious yet sorrowful at what he has become...he is all those things at the same time. That's probably why those who meet him can't help but pity him. __________________ http://www.cadential64.com The musicians had indeed laid bare the youngest, most innocent of our ideas of life, the indestructible yearning for the way things aren't and can never be. ~ Philip Roth, The Human Stain