Study questions Study Question 1

Frodo and Gollom in The Lord of the Rings act as foils or doubles for each other.? How does this relate to the broader themes Tolkien explores in his novel?

Answer for Study Question 1

Frodo and Gollum function as doubles, embodying the two opposite consequences of bearing the Ring. Both are small, but Gollum is smaller—a shriveled, black, and dirty version of a Hobbit. In one sense, they are opponents, united only by Frodo’s mercy and forbearance. In another sense, Frodo and Gollum are one and the same. Gollum represents Frodo’s ego or inner self—the portion of Frodo that longs for the Ring. Frodo, when he tells off Gollum while ascending Mount Doom, appears to Sam as though dressed in white, as if he has mastered his darker, blacker self. When Frodo hesitates at the edge of the Cracks, he puts on the Ring and disappears. In the following struggle, Gollum is the only visible enemy, symbolizing the brief victory of Frodo’s evil side. It is unclear who is responsible for Gollum’s mistaken fall. What is apparent, though, is that the inner spiritual and external physical threats to Frodo’s goodness are difficult to distinguish, rendering the portrayal of evil in The Lord of the Rings still more ambiguous.

Study Question 2

What are some of the physical symbols of evil in The Lord of the Rings? What do these symbols suggest about the nature or reality of evil? What is Tolkien’s view of evil?

Answer for Study Question 2

In one sense, the physical symbols of evil in The Lord of the Rings depict evil as an overwhelming external physical force. At the opening of Book V, a thick blanket of gloom spreads out over the land of Gondor. The Darkness, or Shadow as it is often called, dulls the senses and makes the air stifling. The effects are similar to those of the Ring as Frodo nears Mordor and Mount Doom. Like a heavy magnet repelling its source, the Ring drags Frodo down, exhausting him until he can no longer walk. Furthermore, as Frodo and Sam approach the heart of Mordor, they increasingly feel the presence of the Great Eye of Sauron, fixed atop the Dark Tower where Sauron resides. The Eye conveys Sauron’s will. The strength of Mordor’s forces and the damage that is wrought upon the physical world all flow from the power source of the Eye.

In another sense, the physical symbols of evil seem to derive their evil quality from those who perceive them. A “physical symbol” cannot be entirely physical, as a symbol must possess a constant quality that suggests there is more to the object than expected. The Darkness does not abate while Sauron rules; yet, as a shadow, the Darkness is immaterial, without power, and only a means of frightening onlookers such as Pippin. The Ring also manifests a certain ambivalence in its nature. Frodo feels the Ring is a giant weight, but Sam carries Frodo up Mount Doom with surprising ease, indicating that the Ring itself does not actually exert a real force. Evil is, in a way, a human creation, for while frightening or overwhelming events occur in the physical world, individuals must interpret these events and label them as evil. Tolkien, however, does not clarify this picture of evil. The physical world and the mental life of Middle-earth’s inhabitants play reciprocal roles in defining evil.