Tar,
You make a number of insightful points.
Quote:
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Quite clearly, a single moment of weakness can be all that is necessary to fall from a day or a lifetime worth of valiant resistance.
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While this aptly applies to the recovering addict, it also aptly applies to the temptation to experiment with narcotics, in general. In fact, it aptly applies to any temptation toward vice. In the case of the ring, the temptation is to take from the ring what it offers… not so much a drug like affect, but the real power that one seeks.
There are countless “what if so-and-so got the ring” threads on the forum. I’m inclined to agree with those who claim that those who might get the ring would indeed receive from the ring what they desire, but in the end these gifts from the ring would only serve the will of Sauron when the ring finally abandons its bearer at an opportune time in order to return to its master. Sure, why not keep it? A very valid question considering what the ring can really do.
Take Gollum, for example. He isn’t exactly a fine and upstanding citizen before the ring enters his life. His life in the Misty Mountains was as much a product of his own desire, as it was the ring’s desire to remain hidden. The ring, like a little demon of temptation, constantly sits on Gollum’s shoulder feeding him advice, giving him what he desires, increasing Gollum’s dependency on the ring. The ring, perceiving its master’s growing power, is not lost by Gollum, but abandons Gollum. That is the most cruel act of the ring in the whole mythology.
If anything, the ring resembles an abusive tyrant-like spouse more than a narcotic. Even though Gollum’s love has used him, reduced him to co-dependency, and abandoned him, he, just like the co-dependant, battered wife who still seeks the abusive husband, still loves and desires the ring. The truly tragic element is the fact that the ring would never allow itself to be possessed by Gollum again.
Denial is certainly an important aspect, highlighted by the fall of Boromir. The fall of Boromir isn’t the first time a good person let down his guard and embraced vice in order to overcome an obstacle. I agree with those who say that Boromir was not ignorant of the ring’s evil. He simply chose in the face of despair (an indication for us, given Tolkien’s personal beliefs, that Boromir had already fallen into evil) to grasp vice in order to overcome the obstacle. To me, there is no doubt that Boromir would have saved Gondor by the power of the ring. Of course, Gondor would have quickly come under Sauron’s sway, anywho. The only solution was not in the salvation of the White City, but in the destruction of Sauron. Boromir, because of his despair, was not willing to sacrifice Gondor in order to rid the world of Sauron.
Denial, or sacrifice, then becomes the mark of the heroes. They are able to deny themselves their own personal desires, desires that the ring could fulfill, in the interest of ridding the world of Sauron and his ring. Galadriel does this; Gandalf does this; Elrond must have been tempted, as well, as would have Aragorn. The main difference, then, is one of hope versus despair. The temptation of the ring is far more potent on those who lack all hope. People lack hope because they are unable or unwilling to see beyond their losses, their self-denials and their sacrifices, thus not seeing the wisdom in such self-denials and sacrifices.