Addiction
The influence of the One Ring has also been compared to drug addiction. An "inner addiction" to the Ring has been attributed to Gollum, and he shows many traits of an addict like withdrawing himself and becoming suspicious and angry at anyone. But also Bilbo and Frodo have been found to exhibit signs of an essential addiction to the One Ring. According to Shippey, the Ring is addictive. It has been observed though, that while the ringbearers may become "obsessed and possessive of it to the point of insanity", not all characters are equally subject to this addiction. Bilbo, while holding and using the Ring for a long time, shows no signs of addiction while Boromir becomes obsessed of the Ring although he never possessed it.
Read more about this topic: Themes Of The Lord Of The Rings
Famous quotes containing the word addiction:
“All sin tends to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is what is called damnation.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)