In The Lord of the Rings’ Middle-earth, hobbits are not fully corrupted by Sauron’s One Ring, and there are a few different reasons for this.
The hobbits of Middle-earth in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings are impressively resistant to being fully corrupted by Sauron’s One Ring, but why is this? The One Ring is an essential part of The Lord of the Rings‘ lore. Not only is it immensely powerful, it also has a major impact on those who wear it.
Throughout the narrative of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo, Samwise, Merry, and Pippin all display a stronger-than-average resistance to the Ring, especially the former two. Despite Frodo initially being worn down towards the end of the final movie, there is a sense throughout the entirety of the trilogy that the hobbits can be trusted with the Ring, whereas others cannot. In the movies, there is little-to-no reasoning given for this resistance to the corruption bestowed by the Ring, but there is in fact an explanation.
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Chief among the reasons that the hobbits are more resistant to the Ring is that they do not crave power, lust after fame, or desire to rule over any others. The hobbits’ love of their simple life means that the power of the Ring does not exacerbate any hidden desires such as those that corrupt the heart of Boromir in Emyn Muil on the western banks of the Anduin river. However, there are other reasons as to why hobbits such as Frodo and Samwise are not corrupted as easily as someone like Sméagol.
A huge part of why the hobbits can resist the Ring’s power so strongly is that they were not a part of Sauron’s original conquest plans. The Dark Lord saw hobbits as lesser, and they were not a race he tried to convert with his corrupted power because he saw nothing exceptional or outstanding in them. Indeed, it would appear that it is only Gandalf who really sees the potential of the hobbits. Sméagol was of a race that is slightly different to hobbits themselves, which would explain both his susceptibility to the Ring’s corruption and also his subsequent invisibility when putting the Ring on.
Many of the other characters in The Lord of the Rings have their own agendas and secret desires, which the Ring is able to corrupt them through. For instance, Boromir wanted to use it to destroy Sauron, Sméagol wanted it as a possession which later manifests itself in him calling the Ring his “precious,” while Bilbo craves adventure. However, throughout the duration of the story, Frodo does not appear to have any cravings. He is selfless, pure of heart, and simply a good hobbit, much like Samwise. The only reason that Samwise debates giving the Ring back to Frodo before journeying into Mordor is because he can see it consuming him, much as it did Sméagol.
Aragorn and Gandalf both also recognize their own susceptibility to the corruption of the Ring. While still in the Shire, Gandalf lashes out and tells Frodo not to tempt him with the Ring, while Aragorn turns it down when Frodo offers it to him freely atop Amon Hen and Emyn Muil. Both were wise enough to know that the Ring would try and subvert even their very best of intentions, as it did with both Boromir and Isildur before them. What about Samwise, however? As a hobbit, Samwise did not have the desire to carry the Ring to destroy it and would probably have buried it until it found its way to someone more corruptible than him. In the end for the narrative of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo was the only one who was pure of heart, strong-willed, and determined enough to resist the corruption of Sauron in carrying the Ring to Mount Doom.
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