The True Master.

[Farael]

I guess I agree with those who say that the ring and Sauron were just about the same thing, albeit divided into two different physical forms. But my reasoning is that, as the ring is after all an innanimate object created by Sauron, the creator is the master of his creation, although they are in a way the same.

We hear the ring is intrinsically evil and corrupts whoever comes in contact with it. We also know that Sauron is evil as well and corrupts whoever will listen to him (if not, ask the Numenoreans) They are very similar, although one is an (almost) innanimate object while the other is... well, he is not exactly a 'living creature' but is definetly not an innanimate object. Also, one is an 'outgrowth' of the other, the ring exists because Sauron created it, and I believe that the impossibility of Sauron to cast away and destroy the ring is due to the fact that the ring increases his power. Should the ring perjudice him instead of benefit him, that would probably break the spell the Ring has over him and he would destroy it. I believe that this 'spell' is due to the nature of Sauron himself (namely, he only wants power and therefore taking action that would decrease rather than increase his power is inconceivable)

Of course, this is all guesswork, as Sauron had put so much of himself in the ring that its destruction would mean his defeat as well, yet should that not happen for some reason, and should the Ring perjudice Sauron more than what it benefits him, I'm fairly confident Sauron would have destroyed it.