Gavin Sapontzis
The Danger of Power
Gandalf reappears to the Shire after years of being away, to explain to Frodo how dangerous, powerful, and dark the ring truly is. The ring is dangerous because of the isolation, fear, and lies it imposes. The power of the ring is very dangerous to Frodo because you can eventually become possessed by it. The ring of power was created for Sauron to take over and control the world. There is a clear connection between the ring and the likes of a totalitarian society. In the novel, the devastating effects of the ring are explained through the story of smeagol. Smeagol killed his friend in order to secure the ring. In the text it states, “He was very pleased with his discovery and he concealed it; and he used it to find out secrets, and he put his knowledge to crooked and malicious uses. He became sharp-eyed and keen-eared for all that was hurtful. The ring had given him power according to his stature. It is not to be wondered at that he became very unpopular and was shunned (when visible) by all his relations. They kicked him, and he bit their feet. He took to thieving, and going about muttering to himself, and gurgling in his throat.” (Tolkien 70). The explanation of this shows the connection to the survive at any price mentality in The Gulag Archipelago. The survive at any price mentality is explained as individuals are willing to do anything in order to gain control or to feel better. In turn, they do not think about other people and feed into a permanent lie. Smeagol is willing to kill a very close friend named Deagol in order to gain control. The survive at any price shows that Smeagol was literally willing to kill in order to get his ring. The ring is dangerous and can even be compared to some sort of permanent lie. In The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn explains his personal description of the permanent lie. He explains the idea of constant fear and that citizens never have peace of mind. With the rise of Sauron, many people are starting to feel unsettled and nervous about the future. The constant fear of Sauron and the ring feed into the idea of the “permanent lie.” The permanent lie can be shown through corruption. Solzhenitsyn explains how difficult it was for the people living under the power of the soviets and the bluecaps during this time. He describes the corruption by saying, “In a situation of fear and betrayal over many years people survive unharmed only in a superficial, bodily sense. And inside … they become corrupt. …. All of them, all those murderers with ink, are still among us today. And most often they are prospering. And we still rejoice that they are “our ordinary soviet people” (Solzhenitsyn 325). Sauron uses corruption to try and take control of his ring. He corrupts the minds of leaders and people to try and join his side. This is similar to the corruption of the people in Russia. The Soviets would complete horrid tasks and try to cover it up as normal. This feeds into the idea of the permanent lie and explains why it has to be done. In order to survive at any price Smeagol decides to steal, lie and starts to become controlled by the ring. The ring is sort of like the soviet government. Everything that the soviet government does starts to seem like normal. All of the checks that the bluecaps do, and the innocent people that are sentenced to prisoner camps doesn’t seem wrong. The ring makes smeagol think that it is okay to do some bad things. In the Gulag Archipelago it states, “One’s own order to oneself, “Survive!,” is the natural splash of a living person. Who does not wish to survive? Who does not have the right to survive? Straining all the strength of our body!” (Solzhenitsyn 302). The ring starts to take control of smeagol. Smeagol is given the name Gollum and was banished and cursed by his people. They did not want to see or hear from the man he was or had become. The totalitarian elements of survive at any price and terror combine to isolate Gollum. He becomes a bad man and doesn’t even realize who he is becoming with the ring.