Lord of the Rings Fans Debate the Fate of Gollum as He's Influenced by the One Ring of Power, Claiming 'There Was No One to Warn Him Against the Peril'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
May 30, 2024 7:00 PM EDT

Nobody does the classic 'good versus evil' trope quite like Tolkien. Although the Lord of the Rings books have an extremely defined set of characteristics that divide the cast into sides, one character in the entire saga straddles the line between good and evil–quite literally due to his dichotomy. Gollum is one of those characters in LOTR that has caused much debate because of his simultaneous pitifulness but also his evil qualities. 

Lord of the Rings fans have had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with their perception of Gollum. For starters, he killed his homie to get a hold of the One Ring of Power even before he ever slipped it onto his finger, but then he saves Frodo from certain demise several times throughout their journey. Is he good or is he inherently evil?

Recently, LOTR fans debated the fate of Gollum and criticized the worthiness of the harshness of his destiny. Because Smeagol/Gollum never had anyone to warn him of the perils of the Ring, does that make him exempt from the consequences of Its corruption? You be the judge. 

Keep in mind, this is the same Gollum that ate a few babies here and there…

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    Posted by u/--Ali- 11 hours ago I pity Gollum. There was no one to tell him that he should not use the One Ring. Question
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    The One Ring had passed through the hands of a few people: Sauron, Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo and Sam. But among these, I pity Gollum the most,
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    for there was no one to warn him against the peril of the Ruling Ring. Had he known what would happen if he used the Ring, he might never have used it.
    via --Ali-
  • 05
    I just finished reading the chapter 'Mount Doom' and I was thinking about why such a fate had to befall Gollum? The only think that I could think of, was his greed, when Deagol found the Ring. Maybe the Ring
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    itself, was the punishment for his greedy nature. I mean, I cannot think of anything else that would make the fate of Smeagol acceptable; unless he was born to be tortured and die in fire.
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    elessar2358 11 hr. ago Gollum immediately murdered Deagol when he saw a chance to get the Ring. It had such a strong hold on him because murder was the way he got it,
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    as opposed to Bilbo who got the Ring through pity when he had the chance for murder. Anyone telling Gollum about the Ring wouldn't have had any effect whatsoever, the Ring was too strong for that.
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    WastedWaffles · 11 hr. ago . edited 10 hr. ago Boromir was surrounded by some of the wisest people who told him of the dangers of the Ring, and yet in his pride, he still thought he could use it without any repercussions. I doubt Gollum would have acted any differently had he known.
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    samara-the-justicar . 7 hr. ago It wasn't because of his pride, it was desperation to save his people.
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    WastedWaffles · 7 hr. ago. edited 6 hr. ago The fact Boromir thought he could wield the ring without being affected is pride. The reason he wanted to use the ring in the first place is desperation.
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    iloukal 11 hr. ago Oaths and prophecies are an often overlooked part of the dialogues in LotR. Gollum swears by and on the Ring, so he binds his keeping of the promise to the fate of the ring. The movies left it out,
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    but Frodo at one point says (prophecizes): Should Gollum betray them for the ring, the ring will be his very downfall. So Gollum had the (arguably very hard) choice of not betraying them. So it's a pity
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    indeed that Gollum couldn't resist. In the greater sceme of things it turned out to be a good thing. I recommend reading "On Fairy Stories" by Tolkien, regarding rhe word Eucatastrophe (or just google the word). It's a concept Tolkien uses all the time in the Legendarium.
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    . b_a_t_m_4_n 8 hr. ago This is very much a movie interpretation of the Ring, where it's almost sentient and immediately brain controls anyone who comes near it and dances them around like a meat puppet.
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    The rings are actually a lot more subtle than that. They don't puppeteer their wearers, they don't even make their wearers instantly evil, or mad, as Gandalf tells Frodo:
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    "...I suppose I must keep the Ring and guard it, at least for the present, whatever it may do to me.' 'Whatever it may do, it will be slow, slow to evil, if you keep it with that purpose,' said Gandalf."
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    And indeed Frodo is the possessor of the ring for 17 years and no harm befalls him, just as Bilbo had it for 59 years with no ill effects.
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    They corrupt, slowly but steadily, the wearer retains the intentions they had previous to owning it, it's just those intentions become corrupted, they start doing the wrong things for what they see as the rights reasons.
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    irime2023 10 hr. ago Fingolfin And no one told him that he shouldn't kill his friend because of his find.
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    Frelzor 11 hr. ago From what we know of Smeagol, which granted - is very little, he does seem like the sort who'd use the Ring even if he knew what it was. But it's definitely not an unpopular opinion to pity him in spite of that.
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    Matzaburgaz 6 hr. ago Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand.
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    ddz1507 8 hr. ago You forgot Isildur. Isildur had the ring before Gollum
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    Benji ThePerson 3 hr. ago I have only read the first book but I have watched the movies many times and I don't remember that Sam had the ring. When did Sam have it?
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    --Ali- OP 6 min. ago I haven't watched the movies, but in the books, in the last chapter of the 5th book, Shelob stings Frodo and he lay still on the ground (almost dead).
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    So Sam, after defeating Shelob, decided to take the Ring from his master and make for the Mount Doom alone. He kept the Ring for a little while and returned it to Frodo after rescuing him from the Orc tower.
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    lordmwahaha . 9 hr. ago I honestly agree. Gollum not only didn't have a support system he didn't even know what he had just walked into. He quite literally had no opportunity to fight back. We
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    see how difficult it is to resist even when you have a full understanding of why you have to and someone else to help you. Smeagol never stood a chance, and honestly neither would most of the other characters in his situation.
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    Delicious_Series3869 · 10 hr. ago Gollum is a tricky character. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I pity him (he murdered his friend within moments of seeing the ring), but I acknowledge that fate is a cruel mistress. As for why, who can say? Why was Bilbo destined to be at the right time and place to collect the ring?
    via Delicious_Series3869
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    _Madian 8 hr. ago Bro straight up killed his friend right from the start, no pity for him at all.
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    cugan83 6 hr. ago Gollum ate babies.
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    Mr_Saturn1 4 hr. ago The ring ensnared Gollum the moment he laid eyes on it, he murdered his own cousin for the ring before he even put it on. No amount of counsel could have prevented him from claiming it.
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