The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
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Gollum is a perfect example of a character with no solid moral standing. Because of the corrupting influence that the Ring has had on him over time, Gollum has deteriorated into the beast that he is during the movie. Frodo uncovers the cheerful and helpful personality behind Gollum's crude and sometimes violent outward appearances. It is these two conflicting personalities of mischief and helpfulness that face each other during the movie.

A major part of this movie is a scene in which Gollum holds a conversation with himself. It is shot in such a way that the audience can clearly see the two immensely different personalities that are spawned from the same being. During this conversation with himself, Gollum confronts his violent self and forces it to leave. The helpful side of Gollum that Frodo had uncovered would for some time prevail over his dark side.

However, when Frodo betrays Gollum's trust later in the film, Gollum's darker side seizes the opportunity to return. In a final conversation with himself to cloes the movie, the viewers see Gollum making his decision to lead Frodo and Sam into a deathtrap in hopes of reclaiming the Ring once they are dead.

There are many factors to the character of Gollum that must be considered. A major factor is the corrupting influence of the One Ring. Because of the long time that he held it in his possession, the Ring was able to break down Gollum into a creature who spent his every waking hour obsessing over it.

It is this corruptive influence of the Ring that puts Gollum's sometimes immoral actions into question. The main question of Gollum is how much control he has over himself and how much control the Ring still holds over him. Though he has enough control over himself to temporarily banish his dark side, his emotional state never appears very stable, as his lust for the Ring is ever present. What he sees as Frodo's betrayal of him is enough to send him over the edge and allow his dark side to return in his disrupted mental and emotional state.

The final key aspect of Gollum's character deals with the origin of all his problems -- the One ring. The element of the story that prevents Gollum from being a completely innocent victim of the Ring's power is the violent way in which Gollum first acquires the Ring. By murdering in cold blood another person who possessed it, Gollum used an objectively immoral action to unknowingly send himself down the dark road of the Ring's influence. Though he was not aware of this consequence at the time, the objective wrongness of murder cannot be overlooked.


Memento




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Pirates of the Caribbean
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