My brother asked me the other day "What does Gollum represent?" I almost cried because I didn't really know! Any one know exactly? Would help me out.

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Hmmm. THats hard. I'll give it my best shot.
Gollum represents giving in to temptation and the consequences when you do. Best I can describe it.

Hmmmm. Yes! Thats it I think. Thank you.

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[font=Arial, sans-serif] Hard indeed, I agree with Nauriel. Though might I add that he might represent greed too. Greed, and pity in some parts. [/font]

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OK, from what you guys have told me he might represent greed gone too far and indulging it too much. Extreme avarice maybe

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[font=Arial, sans-serif] Yes. I think we're on the right track. [/font]

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That's exactly what I think about it.

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We've been forever
yet we've only just begun.
We have come full circle.

in my opinion tolkien wrote the one ring to show that human beings and hobbits for that matter are so mentally puny that they would kill another living creature just beacase they want something.

i advocate everything you've just said but i want to add something else too i think that gollum represents pure evil more than just a greedy dude that has gone coocoo ,for example take those staires
in mordor that i can't recall their name (because lack of pizza) gollum tried to cause a conflict between frodo and sam for no realistic reason he has allready lead them to shelob's lair so he could kill them and take the ring so why the hell did he cause them to argue about silly things such as elven bread?-beacause he wants to see them suffer ,because he represents pure evil

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he, to me, represents what we can be if we let our desires get out of hand, inviting in all other sorts of evil

Gollum represents what we fear most...he represents loathing, greed, and what we may become if we let our greed go to far, and let Evil get a hold on us.

To me he represents the trickster, and that out of Evil come's Good, for did Iluvatar not say to Melkor in the Timeless Halls:
"And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagine".

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Wow, you must be very learned to know that!

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WOW I could not imagine that someone wrote exactly what I was thinking was the best answer in this question.

Well Erethror wrote everything I had to say.

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I love what you said Erethror!



I tried to expound on what you just said but, I have to say, Tolkien says it pretty simply and clearly there. He doesn’t need much explanation.

The only observation I could add is that Iluvatar takes ultimate responsibility for evil. He doesn’t blame it on someone else. I guess you would expect that of a gentleman.

Certainly the greater the evil, the more wonderful good appears by contrast. And in the end, evil is only a small and passing thing...

Just like the star that Sam saw above the forsaken land, "...there is light and high beauty forever beyond the Shadow of evil. Evil is only a small and passing thing.”

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To me Gollum represents a look into what is to come or of what could be. He is there to show what happens when evil takes hold of a person's life, of what evil can do to a person both in body and mind.

He is also a kind of motivation for Frodo and Sam. Sam realises that Frodo could become like Gollum, and wants to be rid of the Ring more than ever.

Isn't that a scary thought!! The ring seems such a small thing. How could it be responsible for such horrific degradation? Like you say Larael, we hold evil in our lives at a terrible risk.

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