Gollum's Dissociative Identity Distorder By: Leah Blumhagen

Gollum's Dissociative Identity Disorder
By: Leah Blumhagen

In the story “Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, Gollum is a very complex character. Throughout time he transformed from a “hobbit-like” creature, which was Sméagol, into a dark mischievous creature, which is known as Gollum. These two beings are still part of the same body, but Sméagol’s mind created different personalities as time went on in order to escape from the tragic incidents in his life. At different points in the movie version of the story you can see both personalities expressing themselves. It appears as though Gollum is speaking to himself and having a conversation, but really it is the dual personalities speaking with each other. Gollum is an example of how sometimes when life gets tough we run away from our problems and it is easier to just forget about them then actually dealing with them.
The Dissociative Identity Disorder is caused by overwhelming situations that you cannot seem to escape. This causes the person to “go away” in their head. At this point the person starts to create the split personality that separates all the trauma and emotions that had occurred and make it seem as though they had never happened. A separate place that they can escape to is created in their own mind. Even after the traumatic circumstances have come to an end, a person never seems to fully be able to get rid of their split personality. This can make it difficult to function in society. Gollum and Sméagol are a fictional example of this disorder. Early in Sméagol’s life, he retrieved the “ring” and over time it started to take over him. Sméagol went through traumatic events because of the ring, and also the actions he took to get the ring were traumatic as well. Soon enough the dual personality of Gollum started to form. This character started to become more independent every day, and moved farther away from society.
The split personalities between Sméagol and Gollum have a great contrast between them. Sméagol was an average hobbit-like creature in the beginning of his life. Gollum is a creature/ personality that came about because of trauma, depression, or bad experiences in Sméagol’s life. It was the ring that started this and formed another side to Sméagol. He started to transform into a creature that lived for himself and believes that he has to do everything for himself in order to survive. All of his actions, whether they seem good or bad are to get what he wants, and his whole world revolved around himself. Near the end of “The Two Towers” movie, when Gollum once again takes over the personality of Sméagol he keeps showing Frodo and Sam the path they need to take, which made him seem good, but really it was all just his plan to retrieve the ring. For a little bit, this personality was overtaken when Frodo started to believe in him, at this point Sméagol’s personality came out. As soon as this happened it was almost as if the trauma was forgotten, and he snapped back to his true self, before the ring started to overpower him.
Sméagol lives to make people happy and please the creatures around him such as Frodo (his master). All of his actions are true and he means well. Before Frodo broke the trust that Sméagol had built for him, he was a truly good creature, and He managed to shut out Gollum once something good started to enter his life once again.
The dual personalities of Sméagol and Gollum can teach us many different things about human nature. The disorder of Dissociative Identity caused by the ring could show us how certain things like drugs, or something like money or “precious” things can take control of a person, and flip their life over completely. It could also bring up an example of how some people may seem either good or bad but there is always going to be a little bit of the other personality trait deep down somewhere. For example the side of Gollum comes out a lot throughout the “Two Towers,” but when Frodo starts to trust him, the side of Sméagol starts to take over. Deep down Sméagol’s personality was still there, it just needed a little help to find its way out. When people see something that looks pretty and is magical like the ring, we want it because we believe it will make us feel or seem better, but it can ultimately do the opposite. We buy fancy clothes and jewelry cause it makes us feel better about ourselves, and better then everyone else as well. Sméagol wants the ring because it makes him feel powerful but it turns him into something gross and evil, which is Gollum. The whole situation with the ring could imply that humans or creatures will go to great lengths and risks in order to possess high power.
I do not believe that Sméagol would ever be able to fully get rid of his other personality of Gollum, although I do believe that he would have been able to control it. When Frodo began to grow closer to Sméagol that was the main personality that came out, and when the personality of Gollum did end up coming out for a bit, Sméagol would manage to shut him out. At one point Smeagol told Gollum to go away and never come back. Sméagol seemed to have a pretty firm control on things, until his trust for Frodo was torn, and Gollum once again returned. Before anything could be done Sméagol was unexpectedly captured, and it seemed as though Frodo had set it up, even though he had really meant no harm. At this point in time Gollum managed to re-enter Sméagol’s life. This incident made Sméagol switch back to his “other” world. Gollum convinced Sméagol that he needed to fend for himself and that no one could be trusted. It was hard for Sméagol to not believe what Gollum was saying and once again began to believe that he didn’t have anything else other then Gollum and the hope to get the ring back. I think that if things would have kept going smoothly, Sméagol would have been able to get a strong enough grasp at the situation. Even when bad things happened and Gollum came out for a bit I think that Sméagol would have been able to successfully shut him out and keep his mind focused on the good in life. It had been years since Sméagol would have been able to reflect on other good times in his life to block Gollum out, but maybe if there had been a few more recent memories; he could have been able to do it.
No one can truly tell what exactly the complex character of Sméagol was going through, or what anyone with a Dissociative Identity Disorder has had to deal with until we experience some of the situations they have been in ourselves. Many aspects of this disorder may be hard for us to wrap our minds around, but as we try to make sense of it, it can help us learn and discover more about our real world. In reality it may just lay it all out in front of us. I think that most of us would rather make a new world when we are at a difficult time in life, or it can directly show us how many different sides there can be to a person. It can prove to us just how scary the world can be when our body starts to take control and change how everything is for us.