Gollum

Out of all characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings saga, Gollum is considered the greatest legendarium character. While the creature holds a lot of mystery in The Hobbit, Gollum's history and real purpose in the story is revealed in The Lord of the Rings, and although much of his dialogue and actions portray him to be very static, indifferent, and one-dimensional in this book, there is a certain aura of intriguing attention that he naturally possesses, and so many of the audience members become so drawn into his being and struggle to interpret the character.

This is because Gollum is indeed more than just a slimy, wretched, lonely, crazy creature living in a cave under the Misty Mountains. A very important fact to consider is that objects and beings always end up somewhere for a reason. There is an intent and purpose to the dialogue, description, actions, and settings to scene. Everything is motivated by either the author's or character's goal (sometimes both). Therefore, despite the lack of explanation towards Gollum in The Hobbit, he is in fact, an extremely dynamic character. 

In The Lord of the Rings, Gollum's past is revealed. It is no coincidence, but rather a very well planned out story, that Gollum was once a hobbit. He was first known as Smeagol, a member of the Stoorish Hobbits, or the River Folk. One one of his birthdays, he was taken fishing with his cousing Deagol to the river. Deagol finds the ring after falling into the water, and after emerging, Smeagol spots the ring and demands that his cousin gives it to him as a birthday present. But after Deagol, captivated by the power of the ring refuses, Smeagol strangles him and takes the ring for himself. 

Smeagol in banished and runs away to the Misty Mountains, where he finds shelter in a cavern. There his mind, body and soul are corrupted, twisted and maliciously influenced by the power of the ring. His physical appearance and personal characteristics change from a hobbit to a slimy, bony, pale, dark being. He adapts the name Gollum from the coughing, swallowing and choking sounds he often made.

"Bless us and splash us my precioussss! I guess it's a choice feast; at least; at least a tsty morsel it'd make us, gollum!"

Gollum often taked to himself, something that is considered a psychological dis-function or fracture in his personality. After much years of being alone in solitude, he begins to discuss with himself his plans, his intentions, and his thoughts, which state the fact that he holds a dissociative identity disorder. Later in the saga, he is shown mercy and kindness by Gandalf and Frodo Baggins, and this triggers one Gollum's more kind, loving, moral, and hobbit-like personality to overthrow Gollum, the corrupted, evil, nasty personality. Samwise Gamgee would later name the good side "Slinker" and the bad side "Stinker." There are scene in New Line Cinema's movies for The Lord of The Rings depicting Gollum and Smeagol having a conversation. You can observe one of these in the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbW-Zv_kR5Q

There is much symbolism and thematic elements in the character of Gollum. The duality of his identity represent the good evil in a person. Especially how they both compete within our conscience and mind. Our subconscious thoughts about the right or wrong, the good or bad, sort of ensue arguments in our own beings without realizing, and whenever the immoral or unethical decisions are made, the damage in our character can be immense. Gollum also holds a vital theme of Tolkien's sage: the material and unimportant things in our lives can corrupt us because we are human. 

The fact that Gollum was once a hobbit was a terrific decision for Tolkien to make in his development for the character. It represents the innocence, livelihood, kindness, love, and devotion of a person (or on universal terms, all humans), because that is what hobbits represent. And the One Ring, represent the evil and corruption of our world, whether it is people, material things, or a flaw in our personality, the greed and malignance of Gollum demonstrate what we are when we are selfish, and his physical metamorphosis into the creature depicts what we may appear to look like to others if it reflects on our evil dynamics.

"He hates and loves the Ring, as he hates and loves himself. He will never be rid of his need for it." (Gandalf about Gollum)  

"It's pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had a chance!" (Frodo)  

"Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. And some that died deserve life. Can you give it to them Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many." (Gandalf)