Gollum (March 25, 3019) »
Precious, precious, precious! My Precious! O my Precious!
Gollum's statement on regaining the Ring is one of pure avarice. It's distinct from pretty much everyone else claiming the Ring for themselves in that he doesn't want the Ring because of what he thinks it can do for him, he simply desires the thing in itself. At this point he's no longer fantasizing about being Gollum the Great or getting fish from the sea three times a day, it's just about possessing the Ring itself. Seeking power (because the Ring is a metaphor for power) as an end in itself, not for what can be done with that power.
@Crœsos yes, I would concur. But some of that is, I suspect, because he has had it so long - vastly longer than anyone else - he knows (deep down in his subconscious) that it will never make him great or full or satisfied. He knows the falsehood of that. But he still needs to have the power. The fantasies about what a person would do with the power are just delusions of the ring to get it to move.
Under it all is, as you say, the simple desire for power.
@Crœsos yes, I would concur. But some of that is, I suspect, because he has had it so long - vastly longer than anyone else - . . .
Anyone else other than Sauron, who had it for about eighteen centuries before it was taken from him. Of course on some level the Ring is an extension of Sauron, so whatever influence it had on him was a kind of self-influence.
Surely the most disturbing aspect of Gollum's relationship with the Ring is that it has taken away almost all his identity. There's just one tiny part of him that can still respond to Frodo's kindness, and it doesn't last long against the Ring-dominated part. So, maybe he does want the Ring because it gives him power, but he's had it for so long that maybe he can't cope with not having it. Who is he, alone in the dark (without the Ring) and nameless?
Comments
Gollum's statement on regaining the Ring is one of pure avarice. It's distinct from pretty much everyone else claiming the Ring for themselves in that he doesn't want the Ring because of what he thinks it can do for him, he simply desires the thing in itself. At this point he's no longer fantasizing about being Gollum the Great or getting fish from the sea three times a day, it's just about possessing the Ring itself. Seeking power (because the Ring is a metaphor for power) as an end in itself, not for what can be done with that power.
Under it all is, as you say, the simple desire for power.
All of which sounds disturbingly relevant.
Anyone else other than Sauron, who had it for about eighteen centuries before it was taken from him. Of course on some level the Ring is an extension of Sauron, so whatever influence it had on him was a kind of self-influence.
And I guess that it is the influence of power, that it eliminates the person, leaving only the desire.