I notice that pretty much any reference I see to this story (or Aladdin, for that matter) downplays the betrayal at the end, or eliminates it altogether ...
I liked the version of the Golem story where it betrays its master called "Dr. Frankenstein's Monster", where we find out the real monster is not the Golem, which is just a victim of circumstance.
But I also enjoyed it merely as a side-reference but true to the spirit of the tale in another fiction, where the Gollum created by Sauron('s ring), while not betraying the master, was its ultimate source of its demise.
TBF, Frankenstein's monster was responding to flat-out rejection by his Creator, who found the creature (that Victor had made in his image) to be too disgusting to live but didn't have the heart to totally extinct the thing. But unlike the god of the Noah story, Victor never really reconciled with what he had unleashed upon the world.
The moral of the story is, the Monster should never have been created to begin with; it was a project of hubristic folly. (He could have collected all the body parts he wanted down at a slaughterhouse, but he was determined to make a Man-thing. Why?)
The Golem was meant to be a weapon (and from the Ring's POV, so was Smeargol/Gollum). For yes, it was the Ring who betrayed its master. Gollum was just its tool (and Frodo and Bilbo, too.) And yes, it was meant to be a weapon, too ...
I notice that pretty much any reference I see to this story (or Aladdin, for that matter) downplays the betrayal at the end, or eliminates it altogether ...
I liked the version of the Golem story where it betrays its master called "Dr. Frankenstein's Monster", where we find out the real monster is not the Golem, which is just a victim of circumstance.
But I also enjoyed it merely as a side-reference but true to the spirit of the tale in another fiction, where the Gollum created by Sauron('s ring), while not betraying the master, was its ultimate source of its demise.
TBF, Frankenstein's monster was responding to flat-out rejection by his Creator, who found the creature (that Victor had made in his image) to be too disgusting to live but didn't have the heart to totally extinct the thing. But unlike the god of the Noah story, Victor never really reconciled with what he had unleashed upon the world.
The moral of the story is, the Monster should never have been created to begin with; it was a project of hubristic folly. (He could have collected all the body parts he wanted down at a slaughterhouse, but he was determined to make a Man-thing. Why?)
The Golem was meant to be a weapon (and from the Ring's POV, so was Smeargol/Gollum). For yes, it was the Ring who betrayed its master. Gollum was just its tool (and Frodo and Bilbo, too.) And yes, it was meant to be a weapon, too ...