The point of chapter two of this week’s readings from Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, titled “Rulers Change, the Archipelago Remains” seems to be reflected quite well in the aftermath of Sauron’s demise and the destruction of the One Ring in this week’s readings of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings quite well. Even with the One Ring destroyed and Sauron’s grip over Middle-Earth loosened, life certainly does not return to as it once was because new threats will always rise to fill the newfound void of control in order to seize power for their own future personal gain. Even upon Frodo and crew’s return to the Shire, a place that used to be such a constant in their lives, they were faced with complete changes as the taking of power and the corruption under it led the Shire itself into ruin as the only food left was “the leavings which you could have at the Shirriff-houses, if you could stomach them” (Tolkien 1013). Lotho, or the Chief, as well as “Sharkey” who just ends up being Saruman, were able to claim power in the absence of any rival, small or large scale, in order to lead the Shire and its inhabitants into ruin for their own personal gain. Said leaders, performing acts which lay themselves out to be totalitarian by nature, push the forcefully controlled residents to “carelessly, recklessly [demolish] the system which had fed them–the system which they had spent decades weaving and binding and lashing together” (Solzhenitsyn 455). Additionally, under said leaders’ rule the borders were much stricter, not only keeping people from getting in, but keeping them from getting out, effectively, isolating them. Isolation of this degree definitely seems to be totalitarian in nature as well, as are the further restrictions held against the population which may lead them down a path to the “survive at any price” mindset. The Shire itself even used to be a peaceful land, yet upon their return Frodo and the rest were faced with war, hunger, overworked laborers, and overpowered rulers. This power in question, however, definitely proves itself to be malleable, at least in the case of “Sharkey” Saruman. As Frodo and his friends know that Saruman can’t tap into his true power, his illusion of some greater ruling power over the land immediately drops before he too meets his demise, a similar fate that all who claim such totalitarian power seem to always face.