The Ring of Power isn’t neutral, like sweet cream, to which someone’s personality can be added to make a new flavor of ice cream. It is malum in se—intrinsically evil. It is inalterably bent in a particular direction. In other words, the Ring cannot be put into the service of a good cause. Throughout the story the notion that it could be used for good is the temptation that snares otherwise noble characters. And once snared, they are bent by the Ring until they conform to its intrinsic nature.
