Why Man?

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

Very interesting discussion... much has been said about what happened to the nine men who took the rings, but I don't believe that this has been touched on yet...

Why man? What was Tolkien saying about our nature and destiny?

It's hard to say whether Tolkien had meant anything by this or not. There are so many influences and hidden meanings in his writing that it is possible...
Perhaps it was all part of the story, or maybe he was influenced by men he saw around him everyday. I've read that Tolkien was influenced a lot from his own life and that he wrote the evils in the book in relation to the evils in his life... the machine. His homeland was being detstroyed.
It is quite clear that man is corrupted by the machine. Look at how we live today. We rely on machines. It's quite sad really. People freak out if they lose power for a few hours. Just as the nine kings in The Lord of the Rings were corrupted by the ring of power, and therefore relied on it's power.
This is just a little comparison on my part... though far-fetched some may view it.