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Wight
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Re: Saruman
I'm in a lengthy discussion sort of mood, so bear with me. I'll go through this point by point. Feel free to skip this if you've lost interest in the topic by now.
1- Going into Hiding
<blockquote>
Quote:<hr> Do you mean that the Ring was telling Gollum that he was getting revenge on his family while he was making his way to the Misty Mountains? ... What was his original motive for moving into the Mountains?<hr></blockquote>
Of course not. He wasn't thinking of revenge at that stage.
<blockquote>
Quote:<hr> ...and his grandmother, desiring peace, expelled him from the family and turned him out of her hole ... he had almost forgotten about the Sun. Then for the last time he looked up and shook his fist at her ... And he thought suddenly: "It would be cool and shady under those mountains. The Sun could not watch me there..."
-The Shadow of the Past, FotR<hr></blockquote>
2- Revenge
<blockquote>
Quote:<hr> Was he feeling sorry for himself so he ran away and let it build up within himself (his hatred build up, that is) while the Ring was telling him that he was getting revenge?<hr></blockquote>
A: he didn't run away, he was kicked out.
B: it's quite possible to feel that one is getting revenge in such a situation. Gollum may well have thought (conciously or not) that he'd "make them pay", and "they'd be sorry in the end". Same phenomenon as kids holding their breaths till they go blue, to "get revenge" on their parents, except Gollum was hiding from them rather than holding his breath.
C: what makes you think he wanted revenge just at that point? After all, he went into the mountains to get away from the Sun, not to plot revenge. Might he not have wished for 'revenge' until
after Bilbo took the Ring?
3- Hatred of the Ring
I think that the only one who didn't hate the Ring in some way was Sauron. Bilbo felt much happier after he gave it away, Frodo felt it as a great weight, Gandalf wanted as little to do with it as possible, for fear it would tempt him and twist him to evil (more on that later). As for Gollum:
<blockquote>
Quote:<hr> He was altogether wretched. He hated the dark, and he hated the light more: he hated everything and the Ring most of all.
-The Shadow of the Past, FotR<hr></blockquote>
Why did he hate the Ring? Quite possibly because:
<blockquote>
Quote:<hr> He had proved tougher than even one of the Wise might have guessed - as a hobbit might. There was a
little corner of his mind that was still his own, and a light came through it...
-The Shadow of the Past, FotR, my italics<hr></blockquote>
Note how the light came through the little corner of his mind that was still his own. The good part of Gollum was Smeagol, and hated the Ring, the bad part came from the Ring, and loved it. (One can assume that the lust for revenge was part of the bad part of Gollum, and hence from the Ring.)
4- Twisting for Evil
Gandalf didn't want the Ring. Why?
<blockquote>
Quote:<hr> 'No!' cried Gandalf, springing to his feet. 'With that power I should have power too great and terrible.
And over me, the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly ... I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself...'
-The Shadow of the Past, FotR, my italics<hr></blockquote>
The Ring twists its bearer into doing evil. Even Gandalf feared this for himself.
Sorry about the length of all this. However, there's a lot more than just this to support the idea that the Ring had power over its bearer's will and mind. (I just can't be bothered typing it all.) Replies, enep? <img src=wink.gif ALT="
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