The Lord of the Rings series does some very important
things for our understanding of humanity.
Tolkein was able to show us how we are as people without all of the
readers being consciously aware of the fact that he was doing as such. It was not obvious that it is his comment on
the good and bad of human nature.
The concept of overcoming our own personal pasts could
be found within the character of Smeagol.
Yes, he was a warped creature who took to the possession of the Ring far
too quickly for anyone’s liking. The Ring
wants to be found and returned to its master, but it does make the reader
wander if the Ring meant to be found by Smeagol at all. To someone who would kill so quickly for it
and to be overcome with love for it. That
was the big difference with Smeagol. He
loved the Ring and therefore, he was cunning and insane but never truly
evil. (To be evil is just a matter of
perception any way. No one who is evil
thinks of themselves as such.) He is
consumed with his love for the Ring and because love is a positive force
Smeagol is not lost when Gollum starts to take form. If there was no good left in him, there would
have only been Gollum for the hobbit, Frodo and Sam, to contend with. The results of the books would have changed
drastically if that were the case. Frodo
saw not only that he could end up like Gollum (empathy/sympathy), but he saw
the little bit of goodness that was left to be taken of within the creature
that was Smeagol. Another point in
Smeagol’s side is that he kept and cherished the Ring (the Precious), but he
did not use it. He did not abuse its
power. It never seemed to occur to him
to do as such which seems to be another sign of someone that has goodness still
within them in possession of the Ring.
Tolkein also showed how we could transcend expectations
with the characters of Meriadoc (Merry) and Eowyn. They were simply a hobbit and a woman to
contend with the leader of the Nazgul. They
were people who did not have much expected of them, but who were exceptional
and rose above it all to do what they felt had to be done. This action turned the tide of the war. Meriadoc froze at first, but he acted when he
was needed and he did it stealthily and without any trace of clumsiness as
would be expected from a hobbit. Eowyn
knew what the consequences could be, but she did what needed to be done to
avenge/save Theoden and those within the battle. She was overcome with love and hate and these
opposing forces worked together within her in order to give her the needed
courage.
Smeagol was not the only one to be overcome by
love. Denethor, the Steward of Gondor,
was overcome with love and regret when he saw the war not turning in his while
he watched his youngest son dying.
Faramir was very much alive and fighting off the poison within his body,
but because Denethor let emotions other than the love he felt take over him; he
made the wrong decisions. Pippin was the
hero in this regard because he did the right thing by going against Denethor
and thinking straight. He went to the perfect
people to be able to save Faramir(a man whom he knew loved and respected
Faramir.)
The consumption and temptation of power was quite
prevalent within the third book also.
Frodo gets to the Precious stage with the Ring while Sam watches. Sauron and Saruman still want the Ring because
to them it is power. Frodo loved the
Ring, as Smeagol did, and he only used it when he needed to.
Another big them laid within was subservience. Denethor had respect and fear. Faramir had
respect and love. Gandalf had respect,
fear, and love. He was the one who did
not want to take charge and yet was the only one truly suited to at times.
749, 'Hope and memory shall live still in some hidden
valley where the grass is green.'(Hope and memory are representatives of
Utopia.)
755,‘The Darkness had begun. There will be no dawn.’
767,‘A cage,’ she said, ‘to stay behind bars, until use
and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond
recall or desire.’
789,‘We who have lived long under the Shadow may surely
listen to echoes from a land untroubled by it?
Then we may feel that our vigil was not fruitless, though it may have
been thankless.’
1007, ‘I will not say : do not weep; for not all tears
are an evil.’
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