[The Saucepan Man]

In short, there has to be more to this than the drug/addiction model. The ring is not a passive tool, but contains a will and power, granted dependant upon Sauron, but a will and power that is far more active than a mere narcotic that heightens pleasure.

Well, this thread has moved on a long way since I last posted. But, since I have been quoted as an example of one of those drawing an analogy between the Ring and a drug,(thanks, Bill [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] ), I thought that I would avail myself of the opportunity to explain myself further.

Of course, I agree that the Ring is not the same thing as a drug. The point I was making is that some of its effects are analagous tho those of narcotic substances, particularly the altered state of reality and the craving for it.

The quotes that I gave in my original post on this illustrated that Sam experienced an altered state of reality, when he put the Ring on. "The world changed, and a single moment of time was filled with an hour of thought". This is an alteration in his perception of time. Time does not actually slow down, it only does so in Sam's mind. Later, when he is tempted by the Ring (without even putting it on), he feels himself "enlarged, as if he were robed in a huge distorted shadow of himself". Again, the change is not real, it is brought about in Sam's mind by the Ring.

As for the "hallucinations" experienced by Sam and others when they are tempted by the Ring, these are not real. They represent the Ring showing the "temptee" what he or she can achieve with it. They are, of course, deceptions or "half truths", since the Ring in reality wants to use them to get back to its Master. And here, the analogy with drugs does break down, because drug-induced hallucinations are just that - hallucinations. They are not brought about by an external force (such as those induced by the Ring), but are a product of the drug acting on the user's brain.

By the by, Galadriel's vision of her fate were she to take the Ring is interesting. She sees herself as becoming a dark and terrible Queen to replace the Dark Lord. Was her vision accurate, or was she deceived? Wouldn't she just become subordinate to the will of Sauron, or was she strong enough to defeat him with the Ring and replace him? Just an aside, but something that is not altogether clear to me.

The other drug-like aspect of the Ring is the growing addiction to it experienced by the Ringbearer. Frodo, for example, finds it increasingly difficult to resist the temptation to wear it the longer he bears it, and the nearer he comes to Mount Doom. Also, those who have previously borne the Ring for any length of time, namely Bilbo and Gollum, crave it. Gollum is the clearest example of this, and I agree with most of that which has been said above on this. I have always felt that he hatched the plot to deliver Frodo and Sam up to Shelob when he first suggested going through the passage at Cirith Ungol, when they were at the Black Gate, or possibly even before. He held off from attacking Sam and Frodo largely through the fear of being caught and killed. Yes, he was moved by Frodo's kindness for a while. But I believe that, deep down, his overriding desire was for the Ring. Ultimately, his "craving" would have prevailed, regardless of his apparent betrayal at the Forbidden Pool or Sam's unkind words to him.

So, we have the Ring altering the bearer's perception of reality, and we have it inducing addiciton and craving. Similar effects to those produced by drugs. But I agree that its effects go way beyond those of any drug. As has been pointed out, it brings about pronounced physical changes in the bearer, not least their increased longetivity. And, unlike any drug, it has a will of its own (or at least a part of its Master's will), and attempts ploys to acheive its own ends.

Again ,this leads me to an interesting aside. The Ring deserts Gollum, and on a number of occasions Frodo finds it on his finger when he appears not consciously to have put it on himself. Presumably, it can not physically move, in the sense of jumping off its bearer's finger, or out of his pocket, so this too must be some kind of effect that it has on the bearer's mind, making him do something that he cannot consciously recall doing. The Ring doesn't escape from Gollum, it causes him to drop it.

Finally:

I do think that Hilde’s original distinction between the power of the ring, and the temptation or desire to possess the ring is a valid one. The ring has the power to transform the bearer. It also has the power to allure others… but only according to its active desire to return to its master. We should not confuse one operation with the other.

I am still not convinced by this. It is the power of the Ring that acts on the mind of its bearer and causes physical changes in him. But it is also the power of the Ring that causes others to desire it. And I do not mean this in a passive sense, as in "Oh, that is a powerful Ring, I must have it". The Ring actively tempts others to desire it and, in the cases of Boromir and Gollum, to seize it. I do not think that Boromir's belief (that the Ring could be used to defend Gondor and fight Sauron) alone would have caused him to attack Frodo for it. The Ring worked upon Boromir's mind, encouraging his belief in this respect to the stage where he was provoked into a very uncharacterisic act. As for Gollum, he had no idea of the power of the Ring when he first laid eyes on it, and yet murdered his freind for it. Again, the Ring was calling to him.

So the Ring is actively exercising its power both when it is influencing the Ringbearer (physically and mentally) and when it is seeking to tempt another into taking possession of it. And in both cases, its purpose is identical: to get back to its Master. The only real difference that I can see (other than that the bearer has actual possesion of it) is that the Ring can have no physical effect on anyone other than its bearer.

Oops, jus seen Tar-Palantir's comment:

We have discussed the Drug/Addict scenario pretty thouroughly, maybe somwone has some other brainstorms?

Demonic possession anybody?

Oh well, I've typed it all now. It will just have to stand. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Demonic possession? Isn't that more Saruman's style? Or was that just a film that I saw? The Exorcist, perhaps ... [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]