What do you think The ring represented in "The Lord of the Rings"?

Answer 1

It's the temptation to power, to the ability to make the world "right" entirely through our own efforts. It's the same thing Satan offered Jesus in the desert. Every elf, dwarf and human given a ring was sure he could use it to make the world better. Even Saruman the White believed that the One Ring could be used to stop the Dark Lord. But with extreme ability comes extreme temptation. Every mortal can always use a little more personal security, and their noble intentions get twisted by their fears. Even simple, unambitious Frodo could not destroy the Ring by himself. He needed help, as do we all.

Answer 2

Wonderful question.
JRR Tolkien the author of the Lord of the Rings was a Christian. Many of his themes reflected struggles he had in his life with Christianity.

I would suppose the ring may have something to do with his struggle to do the right thing sometimes. To choose between man's own evil nature and the power Satan can offer.


I love those stories they have awesome Christian themes.

Love
mmmk92

Answer 3

Raw power and ambition.


In response to some comments by some literary critics, J.R.R. Tolkien denied that the ring represented the atom bomb; but LOR was not written in a vacuum. Tolkien lived during WWII, and I am sure that these events had a sub-conscious effect on his writing.

Answer 4

Power

Answer 5

As grace and creation is experienced through a sacrament, so control and destruction is experienced through an anti-sacrament — the One Ring. The ring that Frodo bears is not symbolic, but rather operates as an anti-sacrament.

Dependent on a person's spiritual disposition, a sacrament literally allows grace and life to flow into a person through the physical realm.

Likewise in Middle-earth, the characters' spiritual disposition makes them more or less susceptible to the anti-sacrament power of the ring, which if worn, literally brings evil and destruction upon the bearer.

Answer 6

Tolkien wrote most of TLotR during WWII. It's so powerful because it's one of our greatest mythographers trying to grasp a truly horrific manifestation of societal evil.

The one ring is the overwhelming lust for power that takes over sane men and turns them into monsters.

Answer 7

It represented a powerful spiritual being putting himself into a material item in order to manipulate and have power over the material world.
Of course this not only gave him power over the material but it also made him subject to the material world and he ultimately fell victim to it.
When the item was destroyed so was the spiritual being.
This theme repeats itself many times with Tolkien.
I believe it symbolizes mankinds relationship with the universe.
In our effort to control the universe we create nifty little gadgets (I.E. technology) but by doing so we limit ourselves by the parameters of these gadgets.
Instead of using our minds to explore the universe we are limited to letting the gadgets limit us or use them as crutches.
Computers for instance were supposed to serve man and give us more free time.
Now many serve the computer from wake til sleep.
Even in my own job if the computers go down we all go home. I remember a time when we could do the same thing with limited tech but now we have lost that capability.
Anyway just one small peek at something I have been thinking about for many years.

Answer 8

Power/Truth

Answer 9

I think the ring represented temptation. You know when he put it on it supposed give him "powers" (sort of), it probably means that its easier to give in to evil and harder to stay "good".

Answer 10

Power.