XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: mr@sandman.net   
      
   In article ,   
    "Clams Canino"  wrote:   
      
   > > I know; but I thought (at least in book terms) that it was Frodo's   
   > > kindness to him that caused the long-buried Smeagol-personality to   
   > > re-emerge. At the time when Bilbo encountered him, he was all Gollum!   
   >   
   > I think that even in The Hobbit - he referred to himself as "us" and "we".   
   > I was never quite sure if he was dealing with the split personality, or   
   > referring to himself and The Precious.  ( I read LOTR first.)   
      
   I sort of equate them either way. Split personality or the ring is the   
   same thing. "we" and "us" is always he and the ring. Him under strong   
   influence of the ring is Gollum, him in calmer moments is Smeagol.   
      
   Look at it as if you're saying "we" and "us" about you and a bottle of   
   whiskey, and you call yourself John when you're sober and David when   
   you're drunk?   
      
   Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a great analogy as well. He didn't have split   
   personality, he had a drug-induced changed personality. In fact, the   
   entire premise of that book is to exlore if man has a dual nature, not   
   dual personalities - I think Smeagol/Gollum is an excellent example of   
   this.   
      
   > It's no stretch to believe that an encounter with his own kind (Bilbo) could   
   > make him split a bit.   
      
      
      
      
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