"How shall a man judge what to do in such times?... As he has ever judged... good and ill have not changed since yesteryear" (Tolkien, Towers 49). Almost all novels deal with the concept of good and evil. In the Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien explores the theory of good and evil through the characters of Gandalf, Sauron, Gollum, and Frodo. This concept of good and evil has absolute goods and evils (Gandalf and Sauron) and people who are both good and evil (Gollum and Frodo).

Gandalf is one of the five Istari or Wizards who appeared in Middle-earth "to contest the power of Sauron... and to move Elves and Men an all living things of good will to valiant deeds" (Tolkien, Silmaril 299). Gandalf alone becomes responsible for Sauron's fall because of his vigilance and persistence, he "is the mover of all that has been accomplished" (Tolkien, Return 300). Gandalf is the chief enemy of Sauron and "is a representative of a good that suggests knowledge of the whole of experience and that actively opposes the evil it sees, from the most elemental to the merely human" (Crabbe 83). Just as Sauron represents the ultimate evil, Gandalf represents the ultimate good. In the Lord of the Rings a traditiona

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York: Ballatine Books, 1973.

According to Tolkien the absolute evil is represented by the Dark-Lord Sauron, while the absolute good is represented through Gandalf. Gollum is shown to be evil with hope for a cure and Frodo is good who could have become evil.

by the years that had carried him far beyond his time,

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

inherit the Ring" (Helms 35). After Gollum first acquires the Ring he is touched immediately, "He was very pleased with his discovery and he concealed it; and he used it to find out secrets. and he put his knowledge to crooked and malicious uses. He became sharp-eyed and keen-eared for all that was hurtful" (Tolkien, Fellowship 85). As Gollum possessed the Ring longer and longer it began to eat away his mind and "he hated the dark, and he hated light more: he hated everything and the Ring most of all" (Tolkien, Fellowship 87). The Ring was the root of all his evil, while in possession of it and in his seeking of it. Faramir says that "malice eats it like a canker and the evil is growing" (Tolkien, Towers 381) as the Ring gets closer and closer to Mt. Doom. Gollum is also evil because he betrays Frodo and Sam to Shelob, the spider, in an effort to gain the Ring. The Ring was Gollum's way to evil, because the desire of it drove him on. Gollum also has a good side and Gandalf bel!

beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing (Tolkein, Towers 411).

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Approximate Word count = 1449
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)