Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Grima and Gollum
As I was reading the end of the novel, I was struck by how much Grima was depicted like Gollum. It is said that he moved about the ground almost on all fours, like a dog. He followed his master, not out of love but because this was someone that had control in tough situations and could make sure he was taken care of, even if it wasn't the best situation for Grima to be in. It is also stated how thin and drawn Grima had become. The only difference is that Grima chose to kill his master, while Gollum had to fall over a cliff to become free (because, let's face it: Frodo wasn't the master, the Ring was. Frodo just happened to be its keeper). I am of the opinion that Tolkien depicted Grima in this way to give a parallel to Gollum. We've talked a lot about this character being how the other should have been. Is Grima the embodiment of how Gollum should have ended up?
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speaking of gollum and wormtongue, it is kind of like the Middle eastern way of thought i feel. After the sunni' were stripped of their power in Iraq, there was a vacuum of power to be filled. With bush trying to force democracy on a country that relied on thousands of years of oppression, such a democracy was frail and could hardly be sustained and thus the shiites and local rival leaders came up and wrecked havoc and whatever democracy they tried to have. If your so used to being oppressed or being picked on, giving yourself to a chance of freedom is almost impossible in that case with gollum after eons of possession of the ring it consumed his life and yet grima through his frustrations of being controlled by saruman finally acted upon and slain his master. He didn't kill his master upon anger, but the chance to become free from the iron grip saruman had over him and was finally died free from any allegience when he was struck down by arrows.
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