Bilbo´s treachery

[Leaf]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Let's take a glance at yet another Ringbearer, who - like Bilbo - was unaware of the Ring's nature: Smeagol. Within seconds of seeing the thing, he kills his best friend to get hold of it. [...]While killing Deagol is explained by the Ring evoking possessiveness, and getting chucked out is explained with the formidable grandmother, stealing and sneaking are the aspects of Gollum's behaviour I want to emphasize. He wasn't a model boy before the Ring either, but it seems that such a rapid downfall was augmented and sped up by the Ring's presence. [...]

On a side note: I think it's a little more complicated. It's important to emphasize that Smeagol was willing to murder his friend and kindred spirit, Deagol, within the blink of an eye. And I don't think that you can explain this decision simply by the fact that the Ring is evoking possessiveness. Something alike to this never occurs again (and never occurred before) in the dealings of mortals with the Ring of Power!

Never again does the mere presence of the Ring incite a Person, in an instance, to kill the Ring's current owner, to get hold of it. None of Frodo's Hobbit friends instantly go berserk to take the Ring away from him. The council of Elrond doesn't end in a blood bath. Faramir is able to deny the power of the Ring with a sense of reason and prudence.

The obvious exception is, of course, Boromir. But even in this case it took months and a whole lot of good reason (i.e. Boromir's desire to save Gondor) to get him to the point, where he is willing to take the Ring with force, if necessary. But he didn't just kill him slyly and scooted off. Boromir knew about the power of the Ring and wanted to use it for his own agenda. He conciously decided that this was, given the dire circumstances, the right course of action. Smeagol, on the other hand, didn't knew anything. All he knew was that there was this pretty looking golden Ring, and that this was his birthday.

Coming back to the case of Smeagol and Deagol, it seems to me that there are two possibilities:

1. The Ring's power was, at the time of the incident, stronger than it was ever again afterwards.

2. Smeagol's character is distinguishable and profoundly different from that of the whole lot of other people who knew about the Ring and were around to take it.