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The Unbearable Sadness of Being Gollum: Envy as Insatiable Desire

2022; University of St. Thomas; Volume: 26; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/log.2023.0000

1533-791X

Craig A. Boyd,

Themes in Literature Analysis

The Unbearable Sadness of Being GollumEnvy as Insatiable Desire Craig A. Boyd (bio) Key Words Aquinas, envy, Gollum, Sméagol, sorrow, vice, Tolkien I. Introduction Few characters in literature stand out as grotesque, pitiful, and sad as Tolkien’s creature Gollum. Although he appears in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings,1 it is in the latter work that Tolkien develops the history and character of this unfortunate individual’s self-inflicted misery and the conditions under which he came into possession of the one Ring. The story, narrated by Gandalf to Frodo, corrects Bilbo’s earlier history, which the elder Baggins had falsely recounted to Thorin and Company on their journey to the Lonely Mountain. The wizard’s account of Gollum’s acquisition of the Ring shows both insight into the morally problematic nature of the Ring as well as his compassion for anyone who had the misfortune of undergoing the temptation it presented. Gandalf observes that the Ring was just too much for Gollum—or for any person—and he declares, “I think it is a sad story . . . and might have happened to others, even to some hobbits that I have known” (54). The complexity of Gollum’s character creates immediate difficulties for the reader since Tolkien’s depiction presents two personae: Sméagol—the once Hobbit-like creature who years ago lived above [End Page 85] ground in a community with friends and family2; and Gollum the morally grotesque creature he had become after centuries of possessing (and being possessed by) the Ring of Power. Throughout The Two Towers and The Return of the King, Sméagol comes to represent the possibility of his better nature (at least as Gandalf and Frodo imagine) while Gollum is the morally depraved persona who so desperately needs healing. But it is in this moral paradox—that in wanting to possess power one becomes possessed by power—that we see clearly what power does to people and the struggles an individual may encounter.3 The desire for power, for Tolkien, is invariably a perverse and all- consuming corruption. But there can also be an antecedent vice at work. We can desire power for a variety of motivations: to rectify injustice, to satisfy illicit desires, to gain control of a situation, to exact retribution on one’s enemies, or to possess something in greater abundance than others. Gollum’s character throughout The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings seems to exhibit a variety of these motivations, but one of the dominant drives throughout the narrative is his envy of Bilbo and Frodo.4 The Ring is the ultimate prize he desires, and it is his envy of the two hobbits that tortures his soul. They have “the Precious,”5 which, in his mind, rightfully belongs to him. He grieves over this perceived injustice and it controls him for most of the story. Tolkien’s description of Gollum conforms to a Catholic—or more specifically, a Thomistic—account of envy, which is a “sadness of the soul”; and it is Gollum’s unbearable sadness and his unquenchable desire for the one possession he truly desires that marks his character. This particular vice severs him from community, inflames his hatred of others, and divides him against himself. We begin with a brief summary of Gollum’s sad story and then turn to the work of Aquinas and Gabriele Taylor in order to provide a critical apparatus for unravelling Gollum’s invidious nature. [End Page 86] II. Sméagol, Gollum, and the Ring Gollum’s story is one of obtaining the Ring, possessing it, losing it, and attempting to retrieve it. Throughout the narratives, Gollum is an isolated individual with limited social interaction; and when he does engage others, he vacillates between anger and violence on the one hand (as Gollum) and servility and fawning affection on the other (as Sméagol). Sméagol initially comes into possession of the Ring after his friend Déagol finds it in the Anduin River.6 Déagol is out fishing as Sméagol is on the shore. It is Sméagol’s birthday, and he asks Déagol for it...