I did an essay topic on mental health in The Lord of The Rings and your suggestion that Gollum may be suffering from DID seems spot on. Someone below also mentioned the Crowded Room and that series was so beautiful and yet heartbreaking because it shows how trauma, especially childhood trauma, can deeply and mentally hurt someone. That's how I feel about Gollum and Sméagol, his character is both beautiful and heartbreaking. It feels like two different souls trapped into one body that, as you creatively put it, is a "strange hobbit-reminisce creature," that is a complex individual who is neither fully good nor evil. Great analysis of Gollum's character!
p.s. though I've never read the Lord of The Rings and only saw glimpses of the movie when I was child cause my aunt use to watch them, I also found Gollum cute despite him seeming scary at first and felt bad for him though I never understood why until now.
I really like your connection to DID here. I find it very insightful. It makes me think back to an AppleTV series called "The Crowded Room". In this show, the main character Danny had DID and committed a crime while in a dissociated state. However, Danny himself thought himself to be innocent because it was not Danny who committed the crime but Ariana, one of his 6 different personalities. While Gollum's DID wasn't THAT bad, I could see how Smeagol might be a lot more innocent than he seems.
I definitely agree with you in this matter. I also feel bad for Smeagol and love that you sympathize with him. I always pictured him having multiple personality disorder, but I feel like your diagnoses is far more accurate given his past and his trauma. All in all, Smeagol is definitely one of those characters you can't help but love.
Your post is really interesting. Sméagol/ Gollum is quite interesting. His two personalities and the constant battle that he has within himself are something that I was drawn to. The way you approach Sméagol is really good. The way that you talk about the good qualities that Sméagol has is important. I also like how these qualities still stand out even in the arguments that are had with Gollum, although it does seem that Gollum is the winner the majority of the time.
I really appreciate your pointing out the redeeming qualities that Smeagol maintains, even in the face of Gollum. I think it is something that is supposed to make him a little bit more relatable and sympathetic, putting him in a position for readers to question, "how would I have responded to such a strong personality in the face of what is right or wrong?" and making him difficult to put exclusively on the "villain" side. Great post!
First, please know that I find this approach to Sméagol (and his counterpart, Gollum) absolutely genius. It's too rare that biomedical and social cognitive approaches are brought into the realm of literary criticism! Second, I agree that DID seems an apt diagnosis of Sméagol, whose depersonalization and derealization have great influence, collectively, on his character development. Your mention of subservience is also quite interesting, as one of the more interesting metaphors throughout "Book Four," I think, is that of ownership. This is especially true of Gollum, who is explicitly (and continually) likened to a feral dog soon after his pledge to Frodo: "Gollum watched every morsel from hand to mouth, like an expectant dog by a dinner's chair. . . . Then he went and sat by himself a few paces away and whimpered a little" (Tolkien 622). I share your pity for Sméagol, and this emotionally laden metaphor is perhaps only one way in which Tolkien successfully invokes such empathy. Great work as always!
Hanh-Nhan, this is an interesting post, and this is a great subject to explore. It would seem that Tolkien here is creating sympathy for a character that might otherwise be relegated to an oversimplified existence on one particular side of things. Due to the complications, this character is seen as someone who has been through a transformation, and thus sympathy of the part of the reader is possible. The character is far from one-dimensional, one might say. Thanks for the excellent post!
Works Cited
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers, Book IV. The Lord of the Rings. Houghton
Great post, as always! I think your examination is apt and could still work quite well even without a specific clinical diagnosis: he's been through some things, and his mind has cleaved into two, which Tolkien has really brought to life through his fantastical (supernatural) elements. And in true Honey fashion, you've dived deep into a close reading of different elements that bring Gollum/Sméagol's mental split to the front in a way that respectfully highlights it and what it might mean for the character as a whole. You raise some perfectly valid points for empathizing with him, a camp in which I always welcome new tents, so hats off to you for contributing to that part of the conversation. Thanks for such a rich post, Honey!
Gollum kind of reminds me of the soccer ball friend that the main character has in Cast Away. Gollum do be a little cute, but in a weird way. I think it’s the big eyes.
Hey Honey, really nice analysis of Gollum/Smeagol - I appreciate how you specifically used the term dissociative identity disorder to describe him and looked at him from a medical perspective. I think too many people could quickly write the character off as just some evil little guy who talks to himself, but I see him as a tragic figure, evidence of the danger the Ring can cause. Smeagol is clearly a victim and has shown to want to make amends at times, but unfortunately he is too reliant on the dominant personality of Gollum who is completely self-serving.
Hi, Hanh-Nhan. Nice post here! You have a very interesting take on Gollum/Sméagol. It does make sense that Gollum would have these different personalities within him to use as a coping mechanism. There is a scene in the book that shows how lonely Sméagol is; he thirts for companionship. However, the companionship he possesses within himself is not the quality kind. (P.S. I think Gollum is kind of cute too. He makes me so sad).
I did an essay topic on mental health in The Lord of The Rings and your suggestion that Gollum may be suffering from DID seems spot on. Someone below also mentioned the Crowded Room and that series was so beautiful and yet heartbreaking because it shows how trauma, especially childhood trauma, can deeply and mentally hurt someone. That's how I feel about Gollum and Sméagol, his character is both beautiful and heartbreaking. It feels like two different souls trapped into one body that, as you creatively put it, is a "strange hobbit-reminisce creature," that is a complex individual who is neither fully good nor evil. Great analysis of Gollum's character!
p.s. though I've never read the Lord of The Rings and only saw glimpses of the movie when I was child cause my aunt use to watch them, I also found Gollum cute despite him seeming scary at first and felt bad for him though I never understood why until now.
I really like your connection to DID here. I find it very insightful. It makes me think back to an AppleTV series called "The Crowded Room". In this show, the main character Danny had DID and committed a crime while in a dissociated state. However, Danny himself thought himself to be innocent because it was not Danny who committed the crime but Ariana, one of his 6 different personalities. While Gollum's DID wasn't THAT bad, I could see how Smeagol might be a lot more innocent than he seems.
I definitely agree with you in this matter. I also feel bad for Smeagol and love that you sympathize with him. I always pictured him having multiple personality disorder, but I feel like your diagnoses is far more accurate given his past and his trauma. All in all, Smeagol is definitely one of those characters you can't help but love.
Your post is really interesting. Sméagol/ Gollum is quite interesting. His two personalities and the constant battle that he has within himself are something that I was drawn to. The way you approach Sméagol is really good. The way that you talk about the good qualities that Sméagol has is important. I also like how these qualities still stand out even in the arguments that are had with Gollum, although it does seem that Gollum is the winner the majority of the time.
I really appreciate your pointing out the redeeming qualities that Smeagol maintains, even in the face of Gollum. I think it is something that is supposed to make him a little bit more relatable and sympathetic, putting him in a position for readers to question, "how would I have responded to such a strong personality in the face of what is right or wrong?" and making him difficult to put exclusively on the "villain" side. Great post!
First, please know that I find this approach to Sméagol (and his counterpart, Gollum) absolutely genius. It's too rare that biomedical and social cognitive approaches are brought into the realm of literary criticism! Second, I agree that DID seems an apt diagnosis of Sméagol, whose depersonalization and derealization have great influence, collectively, on his character development. Your mention of subservience is also quite interesting, as one of the more interesting metaphors throughout "Book Four," I think, is that of ownership. This is especially true of Gollum, who is explicitly (and continually) likened to a feral dog soon after his pledge to Frodo: "Gollum watched every morsel from hand to mouth, like an expectant dog by a dinner's chair. . . . Then he went and sat by himself a few paces away and whimpered a little" (Tolkien 622). I share your pity for Sméagol, and this emotionally laden metaphor is perhaps only one way in which Tolkien successfully invokes such empathy. Great work as always!
Hanh-Nhan, this is an interesting post, and this is a great subject to explore. It would seem that Tolkien here is creating sympathy for a character that might otherwise be relegated to an oversimplified existence on one particular side of things. Due to the complications, this character is seen as someone who has been through a transformation, and thus sympathy of the part of the reader is possible. The character is far from one-dimensional, one might say. Thanks for the excellent post!
Works Cited
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers, Book IV. The Lord of the Rings. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt, 2004.
Great post, as always! I think your examination is apt and could still work quite well even without a specific clinical diagnosis: he's been through some things, and his mind has cleaved into two, which Tolkien has really brought to life through his fantastical (supernatural) elements. And in true Honey fashion, you've dived deep into a close reading of different elements that bring Gollum/Sméagol's mental split to the front in a way that respectfully highlights it and what it might mean for the character as a whole. You raise some perfectly valid points for empathizing with him, a camp in which I always welcome new tents, so hats off to you for contributing to that part of the conversation. Thanks for such a rich post, Honey!
Gollum kind of reminds me of the soccer ball friend that the main character has in Cast Away. Gollum do be a little cute, but in a weird way. I think it’s the big eyes.
Hey Honey, really nice analysis of Gollum/Smeagol - I appreciate how you specifically used the term dissociative identity disorder to describe him and looked at him from a medical perspective. I think too many people could quickly write the character off as just some evil little guy who talks to himself, but I see him as a tragic figure, evidence of the danger the Ring can cause. Smeagol is clearly a victim and has shown to want to make amends at times, but unfortunately he is too reliant on the dominant personality of Gollum who is completely self-serving.
Hi, Hanh-Nhan. Nice post here! You have a very interesting take on Gollum/Sméagol. It does make sense that Gollum would have these different personalities within him to use as a coping mechanism. There is a scene in the book that shows how lonely Sméagol is; he thirts for companionship. However, the companionship he possesses within himself is not the quality kind. (P.S. I think Gollum is kind of cute too. He makes me so sad).