The lord of the rings is a movie I can't think about without thinking of the holidays. When the triology came out, each part always landed around the holidays and there was a time for my family it was a tradition to go to a movie on Christmas.
I loved every aspect of that movie. The cinematography, the music, the magic, and the characters. When it first came out, I was in high school and even though I loved it then. It wasn't until I got older, and I started rewatching it, my love grew for it more. It's a funny thing to watch something, read something, or to listen to something again, and to have a completely different perspective of it. Your life's challenges, age, and relationships can make you feel or see something you didn't before.
When I began watching it again in my late twenties, I began to see the beautiful job J.R.R. Tolkien had done in his story. He had taken a scenario using fantasy but underneath showing the struggles of humanity. For the people that have not watched the movie or read the books, let me give you a brief description.
A fellowship of hobbits, elves, dwarfs, and men are formed to destroy the ring by casting it into a volcanic fire, where it was first made. During their mission they are constantly attacked by the evil Sauron and his black riders. (Before I lose you, just bear with me. I know when you first read that it sounds silly, but there is method to my madness.)
Yes, the whole story line is based on good and evil, but I believe the real message Tolkien was trying to convey was not the battle going in their world, but the battle within themselves.
For me personally, I have experienced the battlefield that can happen within me. I've also watched many loved ones win and lose their fight within themselves in my life. It's tragic to think about sometimes of the ones that didn't win the fight. In life we experience struggles, but I don't think they are as deep as the ones we go through in ourselves.
In lord of the rings, the hobbit, Frodo Baggins is given the biggest task. To carry the ring to the volcanic fire. The task is given to him because not everyone can carry it. The fellowship believe Frodo has enough strength to withstand the power of it ring. It has the ability to seduce whoever possesses it. Its ultimate goal is to get the owner to surrender and put the ring on their finger. This immediately allows Sauron to locate the ring by this bond between the ring on their finger. You would think he had the easiest job at first with everyone else around him just having to physically fight evil but as the story progresses it shows the enormous inner fight that Frodo undergoes. In the beginning Frodo has it under control. The ring speaks here and there with a small magnetic pull. He hears it and even though he is intrigued, he withstands the urge. As the journey continues, the voice from the ring becomes more intense and frequent. Frodo starts struggling inside with obsession and his morality. The mental battlefield he begins to fight starts to spew over into life. He begins to be paranoid of friendships if they are genuine and believing isolation is one of the ways to finish his journey. At the end of the journey, Frodo has been so consumed by withstanding the voice of the ring and the manipulation of power it holds. His body almost gives out. He has stopped eating, sleeping, losing somewhat reality, and almost doesn't finish his task and falls victim to the ring.
During that journey and his mental war, he was in, I want to speak on two prominent characters that I believed were important. One was his friend Sam and the other was a lost soul name Gollum. Sam is a friend that starts the quest with him and is with him to the very end. No matter how confused, paranoid, or the fights Frodo would pick to push Sam away. Sam never leaves his side and ultimately plays a huge part in Frodo finishing his task. At the very end Frodo can see the volcano but is so beaten down and tired he almost collapses. Sam looks at him and says, if you are too tired Mr. Frodo, I will carry you.
Gollum is a long-lost soul that years ago was defeated by the ring. His story shows how the ring destroyed him. It shows how ultimately the ring completely consumes him. All he can do is think about his sweet precious, where eventually he becomes a shell of a human. At the near end of Frodo's journey, Gollum appears and tells Sam and Frodo he knows the way to the volcano. Sam doesn't trust him, but Frodo accepts his help. Gollum's character shows that even though he fell to the power of the ring, somewhere deep down inside is still a light in him that still does want to do good. Tolkien shows Gollum struggles with wanting to help Frodo, but the selfishness of the ring possesses him to ultimately do wrong.
In reality, we all have a ring we will encounter. Some for just a season and others a lifetime. In our lives that will be one of our greatest tests. The battle that happens in our souls and our minds. We will have a choice like Frodo or Gollum to either fall victim to the dark or overcome it by light. When that battle comes, remember the strength that Frodo had. His story showed he had to fight it for years before it was finished. It was never his flesh that helped him win it was something deep, deep, down in his spirit that fought it. He also had a true friend that continued to guide him when he couldn't guide himself anymore. Do not lose relationships in your life, that are a Sam. We all need a Sam sometime, because our Sam might be the only one that brings us back to the other side.
As for Gollum, the one that didn't make it. Our lives are filled with Gollum's. They are the ones that fell to addiction, depression, eating disorders, etc. I look at the ones that struggle so differently now that I see what spiritual war can do to a person. We need to remember at one time they were like Gollum happy and full of life, but the ring got the best of them.
Life is precious and we will get to experience so much light in this world and so much dark. We will always have a choice which one we choose to consume us.
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