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Samwise Gamgee
Mr. Kelly
English II honors
10 January 2010
The Devil Inside
“I trust everyone, it’s the devil inside I don’t trust.” (Italian Job). A person could be good,
but could also possess a darker potential inside of them. If someone of such innocence and peace,
like a hobbit, can transform into an evil creature, couldn’t a hero become a villain? The main
character of Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s famous tragedies, proved to be a tragic hero. A
tragic hero is someone who has extraordinary abilities, but because of a fatal flaw, the hero
becomes one of pity and terror. Also showing characteristics of a tragic hero is one of the most
fascinating characters of J. R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. With extraordinary
characteristics, life changing flaws, and dark sides, Macbeth and Sméagol demonstrate elements
of tragic heroes.
Macbeth is a brave and loyal hero that saves the day. He becomes a well-honored man; a
Sergeant boasts, “For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—” (1. 2. 16). The reason for
such praise is that Macbeth had the ability to take down the enemy mercilessly with his sword.
Through this, Macbeth has proved his bravery. Bravery alone does not make a hero. A hero
should also posses the characteristic of loyalty. Macbeth shows his loyalty to King Duncan “And
our duties / Are to your throne...” (1. 5. 24-25). This is before Macbeth is consumed by want for
power. Soon he will lose his loyalty to the king and lose himself.
Although brave and loyal, Macbeth has a fatal flaw. After the encounter with the three
witches, Macbeth questions his loyalty and considers taking the chance that is presented to him
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for the crown. By considering over throwing Duncan and his son, Macbeth is giving into the
temptation of evil introduced by four women. It becomes a theme in Macbeth that women tempt
men into doing evil. Like Eve giving Adam the forbidden fruit to eat, when Lady Macbeth hears
of the news the other women delivered to her husband, she makes sure he will not waist the
opportunity. The three witches and Lady Macbeth tempt Macbeth into evil, and his fatal flaw is
giving in.
Giving into evil turns Macbeth into something quite tragic. Driven by ambition, Macbeth
kills his king, his best friend, and a family. He committed these murders because he is paranoid
about losing his power. Before he commits his first crime, he showed a sign of going insane. “Is
this a dagger which I see before me,” (2. 2. 33). Following Banquo’s death, Macbeth sees his
ghost. By the end of the play, Macbeth proves himself to have become twisted. Now Macbeth’s
fatal flaw has branched off into creating ambition and insanity. As his mental health plummets,
and his situation comes tumbling down around him. Macbeth destroyed his life by cheating and
was tricked, by the evil that first led him to glory, into death.
Macbeth is not the only hero to experience a tragic flaw. A hero of Lord of the Rings in
disguise was Sméagol. It is more challenging to see him as a hero because he is introduced as a
pathetic creature versus Macbeth was a triumphant hero. In reality, Sméagol was an inquisitive
hobbit with curiosity and kindness. When Sméagol is free from his alter ego, Gollum, he
actually shows characteristics of bravery and loyalty. He shows these characteristics through the
act of being Sam and Frodo’s guide throughout the mountains of Mordor. He leads his fellow
hobbits to a place that he least desired, considering he was captured and tortured before.
Sméagol’s most heroic act was destroying the ring. No one is capable of throwing the ring into
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Mount Doom. Without Sméagol being thrown off the edge the ring would have haunted Middle
Earth till the end.
Sméagol lost his chance at a life as a peaceful hobbit as soon as he made contact with his
fatal flaw, the ring. He could not resist the evil of the ring. Like the evil presented to Macbeth,
the ring would bring what Sméagol thought of as power. Sméagol’s desire for the ring
controlled his life; nothing could ever be more important to him than his “precious” being safe in
his fingers.
The power within the ring effected Sméagol negatively. It leads the hobbit to murdering
his best friend and turns into a creature that creeps around. The ring created an alter ego.
Sméagol became Gollum, and Gollum is a complete tragedy. Gollum is disloyal and plots against
Frodo and Sam as Macbeth plotted against the king he loyally served. Sméagol successfully
makes the reader pity him, while also evokes feelings of terror. Together, Sméagol and his alter
ego create an image of a tragic hero.
Macbeth and Sméagol possess extraordinary characteristics, discover their fatal flaws,
and end up in a downward spiral until finally reaching their doom. Macbeth used his heroic
abilities to cheat for power. Sméagol’s desire for the ring destroyed his life. Macbeth went crazy
with guilt due to committing many murders. Sméagol’s physical appearance is warped. Even
though Macbeth takes a turn for the worse, the reader still sympathizes for his undesirable fate.
Even characters within Lord of the Rings are torn between feeling sorry for Sméagol and feeling
disgusted by the sight of him. Macbeth and Sméagol were honest beings; however, the devil
inside of them proved to not be so trustworthy.
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Work Cited
Italian Job. Dir, Gary Gray. Perf, Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland.
Paramount Pictures, 2003.
William, Keach, John Richetti, and Bruce Robbins. Adventures in English Literature. Chicago:
Harcourt Brace Jovanach, 1985. Print.