Quote:
Originally posted by H-I:
But suppose gun was taunting the person with something along the 'shoot me, it would be so nice to shoot me, it will settle all difficulties right once you shoot me...' sort of whisper previous to actual pulling of the trigger?
|
If that is the situation, then it would have qualities of the Ring. Ok, say this talking gun's wish is for somebody to pull the trigger and the Ring just wants to get back to Sauron. Well, the Ring can't just roll it's way into Mordor, it's got to be found, and somebody has to bring it to him. Again, the gun just can't pull the trigger, somebody's got to do it. And if we have this gun saying "pull me, pull me," you still have a choice, it just gets harder because now you have this voice telling you to pull it. Just like the Ring, maybe saying to Frodo "Don't destroy me, I will give you riches, power, women...etc" whatever, but he still had a choice to drop it or not.
The External Evils (The Ring and the gun) and as already said, they do play an effect, if you have this things whispering "do it, do it" or for the Ring's case "don't do it, don't do it," it definately makes your internal struggle of good and evil a lot harder. I think in the Ring's case, everyone would have done what Frodo did, if they were stuck in his spot. The thing is the person still has the choice to do it or not. As we have seen many times, people are able to resist the Ring, so it's a question of that internal good vs. evil battle within everybody. Notice Faramir called Boromir's madness on Amon Hen a "trial." A trial, meaning it's decision time, you're convicted or you are not. In Boromir's instance it's he either tries to take the Ring, or he is able to overcome it. If there is a choice in the matter then it's a "trial" of good vs evil, we all face in our hearts. To do the right thing, or the wrong thing.
I think if Sam was stuck in Frodo's spot he too wouldn't have thrown it in. I think if Gandalf carried the Ring from the Shire to Mount Doom, he might not have made it to Mount Doom, he might have tried to sieze control of it even before getting there. The Ring is a very good manipulator, and I don't see anybody being able to drop it in the fire, but there's still that choice, it just so happens in this case "internal" evil wins out over the "internal" good.
Let's look at another very good manipulator, Saruman. Now, Saruman is in no way the type of persuader the Ring is, but still when you hear the voice of Saruman, one has a choice, to hear it and be swayed by it, or to reject it. In
The Voice of Saruman Chapter there are those who fall to his voice (Rohirrim Riders and I believe Merry and Pippin find it rather odd that Theoden denied Saruman) But there are those who aren't swayed by it (Gimli, Theoden, Eomer). So, it's all a question of the internal struggle, good vs. evil, whether you do or don't. It just so happens that the Ring is a much better manipulator and in the internal struggle of good vs. evil, evil wins out, and very well could win out 99% of the time.
When you are talking about manipulation and corruption it's this external power (A voice or an object) enforcing it's will against the internal will of another. Anytime when dealing with manipulation one can simply say no, the manipulator can't force you to listen to him, he can only try to "persuade" you. The external manipulator (A voice or object) can affect the outcome of the internal battle. However, when it comes down to it, once that persuader's voice is done babbling, it's up to the person, then the internal struggle begins.