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Post by Sparrow on Jul 25, 2004 12:30:41 GMT -6
Many of us have read the Lord of the Rings or seen the movies and are aware of the effect the Ring seems to have on a possessor's character and personality. How much of the effect of the ring is because of the power of invisibility? Have any of you seen the movie Hollow Man which also dealt with this theme? How do you think the the power to be invisible would effect most people? other characters in this story? you?
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Post by Stormrider on Jul 26, 2004 5:57:24 GMT -6
I can see how it was a good tool for Gollum in catching the goblins for food. It also helped Bilbo get out of the cave and away from both Gollum and the goblins.
If you were a spy, it would come in very helpful in gleaning information from your enemies!
Or you could just spy on your own friends and family! However, you might find out things from your friends and family that you wished you hadn't found out! This could turn out being a bad thing!
I can see that if you wanted solitude from a very hectic life in which everyone you know seeks your advise, that it would help you "hide" from everyone.
I don't think I would want to be invisible. In my own life and circumstances I would not have a need to be invisible!
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Post by jerseyshore on Jul 26, 2004 11:31:34 GMT -6
Invisibility would make a person (or a hobbit) separate from the people around him. It's an isolating thing. He would no longer be a part of his peer group . Because no one could see him, the art of communication would be lost. He would feel like a total outsider. Men (and hobbits) are not meant to live as hermits, cut off from all contact with others. It's unhealthy to feel no connection with fellow beings. This could well be part of the insidious power of the ring. A creature wearing it for long periods of time becomes disconnected from everyone else. He focuses inward on his own psyche, and loses interest in the rest of the world. Eventually he is no longer able to relate to others in a normal way.
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Post by Stormrider on Jul 27, 2004 6:01:39 GMT -6
Jerseyshore: Very true. Gollum would have been more isolated when using the Ring. From reading this chapter, it does not seem that even Gollum could keep the Ring on at all times. He had to take it off, look at it, stroke it, covet it, and stash it away in safe places--only to come back looking for it.
But I don't think Gollum would have wanted to have been seen or communicated with any of the goblins whether he had the Ring or not! His being in the dark depths of the cave was also isolation and solitude.
As we learn later in FOTR, The Ring was the cause of Gollum's being cast out of the family by his Grandmother and shunned by others from his town. I am not sure if it was because of the invisibility it provided or the other feelings and desires it caused its wearer that made Gollum feared by his family and friends.
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Post by MajahTR on Jul 27, 2004 21:20:19 GMT -6
jerseyshore... i think that is exactly what would happen and did happen to Gollum and also in a smaller sense to both Bilbo and Frodo. they also became a little distanced from their peers and didn's seem to fit in with their old lives, probably part from their adventures but i imagine part of it came from being involved with the ring. Maj
(yipes i can't believe i actually ventured an opinion!!!)
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Post by Greenleaf on Jul 30, 2004 3:16:27 GMT -6
I admit there have been times I wished I could become invisible at will. It would be very convenient in difficult or dangerous situations. But I would never like to use such an ability to sneak on people and never at the cost of being enslaved to an evil power as the Ring's. It is too true that Bilbo and Frodo became distanced from the other hobbits and even the world around them due to the Ring's influence, although I don't think the main reason for their feeling isolated was the Ring's invisibility properties but rather its whole effect in one's soul.
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Post by Stormrider on Aug 8, 2012 18:01:43 GMT -6
The Ring worked evil into its owner and the more they used it, the more isolated they became because of their coveting of the Ring. Gollum had it for 471 years and it really did a number on him.
AFTER Bilbo returned to The Shire, he used it to hide from the Sacksville-Baggins when they came to call. I don't remember reading that Bilbo or Frodo every spied on anyone while invisible--with the exception of Bilbo's spying on the Elves to help get the Dwarves out.
I would feel very weird being invisible around people without their knowing I was there. Althought the conversation might be interesting, I don't think I would want to know everything I found out while invisibly eavesdropping on anyone!
But if modern scientists could develop an invisibility ring today, it could really cause a lot of trouble in the world. It may be helpful for our undercover work, but there are those who would sell the information for big money and if everyone ended up with that technology what a mess it would make. You bet it would be used for the wrong reasons, too.
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