Although this doesn't bring us any closer to a conclusion, I find it interesting that many of the arguments here about the desire for power bear a certain similarity to Boromir's theory of the Ring.
Quote:
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"Gandalf, Elrond, all these folk have taught you to say so [that everything done with the Ring turns to evil]. For themselves they may be right. These elves and half-elves and wizards, they would come to grief perhaps. ... But each to his own kind. True-hearted Men, they will not be corrupted. We of Minas Tirith have been staunch through long years of trial. We do not desire the power of wizard-lords, only strength to defend ourselves, strength in a just cause.
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Obviously, he's not the best source for information on the thing, and I'm pretty sure that if he had succeeded in claiming the Ring it would have led to disaster just as it would have if Galadriel or Gandalf had done so. But he specifically disclaims the desire for power. It's quite possible that he's entirely wrong about himself--we know he wants to be king, and also that the desire for power diguises itself. If nothing else, however, this suggests to me that Men are as vulnerable to it as Elves, and that they (or some of them) are more likely to attempt to use it for grand schemes than hobbits are. This may have to do with Child's point about hobbit government and Jessica's about the smallness of their vision.
Interesting, as well, to think that the Ring doesn't actually have less effect on hobbits, but that they simply behave differently. Hmmm.
--Belin Ibaimendi
[ July 03, 2002: Message edited by: Belin ]