Suicide in Middle Earth

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I don't believe that an accident can be called a suicide. The slip was accidental on Gollums part; you can argue that it was meant so by fate, but fate doesn't always give you your preference.

What I key on is Frodo's threat that Gollum would be cast into the Fire. One might take that as a doom, or a curse, but Gollum wasn't made to fall by any discernible outside force. Therefore, I see it as a very possible subconscious effort on his part to free himself from the Ring in the only way he was then capable of being free. Frodo had given him the idea.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I don't see a reason for Gollum to want to die. The Smeagol inside of him was dead a long time ago. His affection for Frodo disappeared. The only thing he had left was his hunger for his preciouss. In a sense, Gollum also falls into the category of people who upon their death have no purpose - either because it is unachievable, or because it has been achieved.

Even at the very end I don't feel the Sméagol part was "dead". It was beaten down into only a whisper in Gollum's mind, but still: he could have felt a desire to help Frodo as well, if there was a way to do so without forgoing the Ring.