In excerpt from The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring, by JRR Tolkein, Sméagol, an innocent creature, and his friend are fishing when Deagol finds a ring in the mud. This ring was created by the dark lord Sauron in an attempt to rule Middle Earth. The ring is the embodiment of evil and upon seeing it Sméagol murders his friend to get it. The discovery of the ring alters how Sméagol acts but a larger, more important transformation occurs. I will discuss this change by answering the question: how does finding the ring transform Smeagol in to Gollum? After finding the ring, Sméagol moves from a higher character type to Gollum, a vicious man. This transformation can be connected to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave where the escaped
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The figurative shift is the obvious good to bad while the literal movement occurs later as he “found a little cave out of which the dark stream ran; and he wormed his way like a maggot into the heart of the hills.” (p 53) This movement from light to dark can be connected to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave from his book “Republic.” In it Plato writes about a person imprisoned in a dark cave where his reality was controlled by puppet masters who cast shadows to influence what he sees. When the prisoner escapes he ascends into the light he was pained by the brightness and could not look at the sun, he was used to the cave and darkness. Eventually the prisoner was able to look at the sun and experience all aspects of life. The transformation of Sméagol to Gollum is the opposite of the Allegory of the Cave, he descends from light to darkness. The light and dark that Sméagol moves about in reflect Aristotle’s four character types: the virtuous man, the continent man, the incontinent man, and the vicious man. The different character types deal with man and his actions or thoughts about a good. The virtuous man knows the good, wants the good, and does the good. The continent man knows the good, does not want the good, but still does the good. The incontinent man knows the good, does not want the good, and does not do the good. The vicious man does not know the good, and as a result does not want the good nor does he do the good. According to Aristotle, this “good” is an action specific to man that is in accord with his nature while fulfilling it through virtue. (2/25/16) Before finding the ring Sméagol was innocent and a higher character type, taking joy in nature and the company of his friend. But after finding the ring, the good became hidden to him and his transformation to Gollum and a vicious man began. Aristotle’s vicious man
The figurative shift is the obvious good to bad while the literal movement occurs later as he “found a little cave out of which the dark stream ran; and he wormed his way like a maggot into the heart of the hills.” (p 53) This movement from light to dark can be connected to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave from his book “Republic.” In it Plato writes about a person imprisoned in a dark cave where his reality was controlled by puppet masters who cast shadows to influence what he sees. When the prisoner escapes he ascends into the light he was pained by the brightness and could not look at the sun, he was used to the cave and darkness. Eventually the prisoner was able to look at the sun and experience all aspects of life. The transformation of Sméagol to Gollum is the opposite of the Allegory of the Cave, he descends from light to darkness. The light and dark that Sméagol moves about in reflect Aristotle’s four character types: the virtuous man, the continent man, the incontinent man, and the vicious man. The different character types deal with man and his actions or thoughts about a good. The virtuous man knows the good, wants the good, and does the good. The continent man knows the good, does not want the good, but still does the good. The incontinent man knows the good, does not want the good, and does not do the good. The vicious man does not know the good, and as a result does not want the good nor does he do the good. According to Aristotle, this “good” is an action specific to man that is in accord with his nature while fulfilling it through virtue. (2/25/16) Before finding the ring Sméagol was innocent and a higher character type, taking joy in nature and the company of his friend. But after finding the ring, the good became hidden to him and his transformation to Gollum and a vicious man began. Aristotle’s vicious man