[MLD-Grounds-Keeper-Willie]

I am in agreement with you as well, I like it when that happens.

Ok, you've had your fun. Time for me to jump in! Here comes the disagree-er. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

But really, I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I just point out parts I disagree with of really agree with. So, try not to look at me as a negative person who never or rarely agrees with anything. I'm not saying anyone sees me as that, I just want to explain myself a little.

Ok, here I go

Bill Ferny:

how does the ring function for Gollum?

The ring was like a drug, and for Gollum, it was very very terrrible. At first, it was like a high t have it. Gollum liked having the ring as he could find out secrets and become invisible. However, after a short while, the ring grew on his mind and became a part of him. I'm not sure if it really gave off a high, but for Gollum, the ring had a hold on Gollum from the start, so it's hard to tell if he recieved any high or not, other than a false one made of lies by the ring.

An undeniable fact from the narrative is that the ring unnaturally prolongs the bearer’s life. Drugs have a tendency to do the exact opposite.

If you think about it, it can also be looked at as doing exactly what drugs do (decrease life) instead of the opposite (prolong life). Sure, someone who has the ring and keeps it will have their life prolonged, but when the starts to take over your mind, do you really have your life? The ring screws it all up and your life in your community with friends and family and a lot of other things begin to rip away from you and are somewhat destroyed by the ring. And that's if your life isn't taken away from you. In a way, the ring ends your life. I think it's possible to get it back, however hard it may be, but others would disagree with me.

Tar-Palantir:

Smeagol is different, he did not choose to give up the Ring, and that is a major first step in true recovering addicts. So Smeagol was not a 'recovering addict', he was still consciously consumed with the desire for it, which was his dilemna.

Well, I say what I said to you in I think i found another hidden meaning... I'm not sure if you read it yet, but here it is:

Well Samwise, the thing with Gollum searching was that he tried to let the ring go, even though he couldn't. He couldn't because as you said, he went to great lengths looking for his precious. And he got more desperate the closer they got to Mt. Doom. However, the reason I say that he was trying to quit was because he had a chance to take it, but chose not to. Many times he could have done away with Sam and Frodo and taken the ring. Like at Ithilien. Gollum is very cunning and crafty. He could have strangled Sam first, or came up with another way of ending his life, while Frodo was separated from him. And then Gollum could have killed Frodo and taken the ring. Do you recall the steps at Cirith Ungol? When it said
quote:
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Gollum looked at them. A strange expresssion passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him, and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass , shaking his head as in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo's knee-but alost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried hmi far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing.
But at that touch Frodo stirred and cried out in his sleep, and immediately Sam was wide awake. The first thing he saw was Gollum-'pawing at master,' as he thought.

'Hey you!' he said roughly. 'What are you up to?'

'Nothing, hothing,' said Gollum softly. 'Nice Master!'

'I daresay,' said Sam. 'But where have you been to-sneaking off and sneaking back, you old villian?'

Gollum withdrew hmiself, and a green light flickered under his heavy lids. Almost spider-like he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes. The fleeting moment had passed, beyond recall.


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I strongly believe that Gollum was debating whether he should really take them to Shelob or not. Smeagol was fighting the addiction of the ring right there. He was wieghing the worth of his drug, the ring versus the power of friends, acceptance, love, compassion, etc., which he had not been offered in over 500 years. And he found that friends and the other stuff was more important than having the ring. His battle was was hard fought and well deserved. It was a major step forward in the right direction. But then because of Sam, he was knocked backed 5 steps in the opposite direction; too far to ever recover from.

So, I do think that he was recovering, even if only a little, but he was still addicted. The addiction of the ring stays with you just like it does with a drug. No ringbearer (save Tom) will ever be fully cured. Remember Bilbo? The ring never really twisted him and ruined his life (well maybe it did, but just play along) and he gave it up. He let the ring go, but he was still addicted. At Rivendell, Bilbo is dying just to look at it. So, the addiction stays.

Basically what I am saying is that since Gollum had the chance to take it at times, but chose not to, he was refusing it. By refusing it, Gollum was somewhat recovering.

Well, I actually have to go now. I would like to respond to Bill Ferny again, then dininziliel, then Tar-Palantir again, then dininziliel again, and finally, Tar-Palantir. Sorry I can't do it now, I'll find time for it tomorrow.