The simmering continues with the heat rising as the white wisps are blown through the insufferable warm air while Sam Gamgee and Frodo Baggins’ ragged attire pools in sweat as they scale Mount Doom. It’s fiery river flows as Frodo approaches; he is attacked by the vile creature Gollum, who latches his corroded teeth around Frodo’s finger and pierces the skin, spewing blood in the air until his finger is removed and continues to expel blood in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The climax of the book shows how the allure of power of the Ring isolates individuals symbolizing the book’s context in the era of World War II and the Cold War, because the psychology of totalitarianism requires an isolated personality to create a mass soul. Prominent political philosopher and author, Hannah Arendt, explains the prime conditions for totalitarianism in The Origins of Totalitarianism including the necessity for an isolated personality. The Ring itself was made to control and “rule” all of Middle Earth and would “bind” Middle Earth “in the darkness” meaning that the one Ring would control those with the other rings and cause destruction causing the “darkness” that would result in Sauron’s rule (Tolkien 618). The “individual isolation” and “fear” of members of the public allow totalitarianism to spread and gain “sheer numbers” through the mass formation of isolated individuals (Arendt 303). This ability to gain numbers centers on the fact that “all ideologies contain totalitarian elements” which makes it more appealing to individuals throughout widespread society and different societal groups, which Arendt continues in detail in her book. These warnings combine with the concerns of Shoshanna Zuboff about the digital era and its ability to make people victim to becoming “easy prey to manipulation” for totalitarian movements (Zuboff 284). 

During their exhausting trek to Mount Doom, Frodo’s conflicts with the Ring become more apparent, causing Sam to offer to carry the Ring which is met with harsh sternness from Frodo. Frodo refusing Sam’s help reveals the disconnect between the two because the loss of self-connection Frodo is experiencing, similar to the effects of isolationism on the individuals in Soviet labor camps, described by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as the “ripening of the soul” (Solzhenitsyn 611). In The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn unveils the horrors that were occurring in Soviet Union labor and prison camps, one of which where Solzhenitsyn spent eight years documenting all that he could. The mentality of those in the camps was to “survive at any cost” and that the “permanent lie” was the “only safe form of existence”, this permanent lie being the alterations of one’s soul to survive the horrors of the camps including going against their beliefs to survive or at the cost of another (Solzhenitsyn 603 and 646). Solzhenitsyn was able to survive the camps due to his continual connections to others and continues with how those who isolated themselves in the camps were more susceptible to the effects of totalitarianism in the camps. Their susceptibility often caused irreversible changes to their souls and even caused their deaths. In The Lord of the Rings, Sam recounts the many connections he has to others throughout his journey to Mount Doom through thoughts of “Rosie Cotton and her brothers” and “memories of food” and the longing for “simple bread and meats” (Tolkien 934 and 936). Frodo sees possessing the Ring as his only form of survival through his constant self conflictions with his “own dark thoughts” that caused his hand to “creep to his breast, clutching” the Ring until he gained control over himself and withdrew his hand (Tolkien 936). He sees the Ring as his only form of survival due to his disconnection from his friendships and home; these disconnects allow totalitarian power to gain traction and stability within Frodo. Had these connections remained present, they would have provided alternatives to the sense of isolation that Frodo experiences by allowing other factors to take the place of the Ring. By having connections to his friends and his home, like Sam’s continual connection, Frodo would have been able to withstand the sheer power the Ring holds over isolated individuals due to the Ring preying on those individuals that lack psychological connections to others. 

The dying lands of Mordor are seen in every direction, from the gray smoke-filled skies to the desolate rubble and thorn-filled landscape, the cries and scuffling of the Orcs echoing through the air while Frodo and Sam trudged along. The treacherous landscapes of Mordor emphasize the importance of protecting one’s home from the horrors that Sauron is capable of because the “love of home” leads to a sense of protection towards home, as believed by Roger Scruton, an influential environmental philosopher (Scruton 127). The term for one’s love of home is coined by Scruton as “oikophilia”, in his book Green Philosophy, meaning that our deep connections in this world are indispensable and that it is the responsibility of those alive today to protect this home for future generations to be able to experience it (Scruton 127). Thus directly showing the connection between one’s home and the need to protect their home and all that coincides with it. This home may be a physical structure, but it may also be the presence of people or the overall aesthetic that comes along with a location. These ideas are prominent in The Lord of the Rings in regards to Frodo and Sam traveling to Mount Doom. The Fellowship is the nine members chosen from Middle Earth to destroy the Ring that formed friendships and connections to one another, causing them to find a sense of home within each other. As Frodo and Sam persevere through the barren landscapes of Mordor, they experience the harsh realities of what is to come of all of Middle Earth if they are unable to complete the task at hand, destroying the Ring. Frodo and Sam are experiencing the effects of Sauron on the areas he extends absolute control over. While continuing their journey, Sam experiences desperation for water as his body undergoes the effects of dehydration, for instance, a “parched mouth” and “his tongue seemed thick and swollen” causing a greater desire for water (Tolkien 936). This lack of water is unknown to the Hobbits due to their home, the Shire, being geographically located near the Brandywine River from where they source their water. This lack of water is a realization for the Hobbits that this grim environment and lack of resources they are experiencing is what is to come of the Shire and all of Middle Earth shall they fail their task. Sauron and his powers cause destruction and death to follow wherever they gain power. Sam realizes this and what is to come and gets a new sense of purpose in the journey, this new purpose being to protect his home. Sam finds home is not only the Shire but also the home he has found within others like Frodo and the Fellowship, the connections he has built throughout Middle Earth, and the land he loves to cultivate. 

The Eye of Sauron is scanning, searching, and sensing for the Ring throughout Middle Earth in hopes of finding it and returning it to Sauron. The Eye exhibits the utmost amount of surveillance due to its ability to see all, therefore coupling with the fears that Zuboff, an influential philosopher, experiences on the ever-growing surveillance technology companies have over the public and the negative impacts it has on members of society. In Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Zuboff expresses her fears about how increasing technological surveillance impacts society. Her fears sprout from the basis that social media has an immense impact on the psychological structure of adolescents extending through the age groups. Technological companies like Facebook have a “hand-and-glove relationship” with their users where they not only have control over what their users do, but also have unlimited access to the data of their users (Zuboff 282). This unlimited access allows the companies to have data they can use for whatever they see fit, including the making of their algorithms. The control these companies exert allows for the manipulation of the users allowing them to have surveillance and control over a large portion of the population and the ability to change the course of people’s lives. In The Lord of the Rings, the Eye exerts this power of surveillance once Frodo puts on the Ring, Sauron becomes aware of the Ring’s presence, and the Eye searches “all shadows” and looks across all of the lands to find the Ring (Tolkien 946). Insinuating that the Eye can survey the entirety of the shadows to find the Ring proving its ultimate surveillance capabilities. The Eye’s knowledge goes directly to Sauron, who can send out his servants to find the Ring like the Nazgul and the Ringwraiths. The Nazgul and Ringwraiths go to the location where the Ring is, Mount Doom, with the utmost urgency compared to a “storm of wings” reiterating the speed they are moving (Tolkien 946). The surveillance capabilities of Sauron and his many servants cannot only control people, like the Ring but also create mass destruction and death, like the Orcs, Ringwraiths, and the Nazgul. Sauron’s extension of power allows him to extend his control throughout Middle Earth exhibiting the fears that Zuboff has of companies having control over the entire population. 

The Ring met its demise in Mount Doom, as it lay and sank in the fiery river, its inscription in gold melted away, leaving only the memory of the Ring and its power. The power being the leading force and allure for people to go against their beliefs and create destruction on Middle Earth because of the isolated personality necessary for totalitarian ideals to gain traction, according to numerous authors. The allures for power in The Lord of the Rings are similar to the real-life experiences of J.R.R. Tolkien during his period writing the novel throughout World War II and the Cold War. These comparisons are evident through the totalitarian powers that Sauron exerts over parts of Middle Earth. Similar to the totalitarian leaders like Hitler and Stalin, who had lasting impressions on Tolkien along with Solzhenitsyn. These fears turned into a fear of one’s home and the need to protect it relating to Tolkien’s time in the military concurrently to Sam, who seeks to preserve his home, which is in concurrence with Scruton. The increasing technological advancements of Tolkien’s time and the fears that came along with them are conveyed through the Ring and how its power extends much further than one individual. Zuboff expresses similar fears concerning the modern era of technology and its inevitable impacts on society. These impacts Zuboff fears to be detrimental can be spread through the tools totalitarian regimes can use, namely the internet. As modern technology continues to progress and increase in power, the fears of what is capable of this technology only surge due to controlling powers using the internet to spread beliefs, like totalitarianism. These beliefs can become appealing to all groups of society through technology, allowing for totalitarianism to gain root and cause mass destruction.