All beings have within them ambitions and desires, but only those who manage to resist those siren calls can overcome the inner struggle between what one wants, and what must be. J.R.R. Tolkien demonstrates this everlasting conflict between willpower and desire in his novels, The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Silmarillion. This conflict is personified within the characters of the mortal Frodo, and god Melkor, and symbolized by the empowering Master-ring, which tempts corruption. Frodo struggles within himself to resist the will of the Master-ring, which coaxes him to take the easy way out. He ultimately succeeds in overcoming its deceptive lure. Melkor, mightiest of the gods, is consumed by ambition and desire to be the best, and most revered of the gods. His gradual degeneration leads him down the path to his ultimate ruin. Through his inability to restrain his ambition he becomes corrupt, and a slave to his own desires, eventually losing all decency he once had. The master ring, temptation incarnate, offers power, protection, and a clash of wills for the wielder. For just as the bearer seeks to use the ring, the ring seeks to dominate the bearer through tempting him with what he desires. Thus man, god and object all relate to the same overall theme of the balance between good and evil. If one gives in to desire it can only lead to corruption and evil, whereas if the willpower is stronger than the temptation, the good will prevail.
             J.R.R. Tolkien uses the Master-Ring as the symbol of desire, temptation, and power. All who come within its presence become tainted, craving to possess it, its power, and its promises. All of these things make the ring a catalyst, sparking the clash between willpower and desire. All who wear the ring must battle with it for control lest it take them over. The most notable figures to come under the sway of the Ring in this way are the Human Boromir, and the hobbit Sméagol, later to be ...