GOLLUM AND THE RING
Many of us are familiar with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We cannot help but remember the character named Gollum. He was a hideous, pathetic creature who was possessed by the power of the ring. In fact, the ring was the reason for his hideous appearance. His obsession with the ring robbed him of everything else in life that mattered. Only one thing mattered now: the ring. In his raspy voice he referred to it as "my precious." At the climax of the story Gollum surprises Frodo as he stands perched on a ledge in the heart of the fiery mountain to which he has journeyed so that the ring might be destroyed. Gollum fights with Frodo for the ring, but in doing so he loses his balance and falls into the hell like flames below, all the way clutching the "precious" ring. He had finally acquired the ring, but lost his life in doing so.