The first similarity is the way in which both Sauron himself and Frodo lose possession of the Ring of Power. In Sauron’s case, it is cut from his middle finger by Isildur, in the Battle of the Last Alliance, in which a band of orcs and men fight to prevent Sauron from taking over. Isildur cuts the ring after Sauron kills his father, and Sauron is subsequently left powerless and defeated, which forces him to retreat. He does not give up the ring of his own free will, and subsequently covets the return of its power so that he can regain his full strength and return to his purpose. Similarly, Frodo also loses a finger in the struggle for the ring. Frodo has come so far from The Shire, through many perilous journeys, and many difficult times, including loss, heartache, and inner demons. Throughout this time, he does an extraordinary job of resisting the ring, especially as he has it for over a year, and in close proximity to Sauron, whom the ring is always trying to return to.
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At the last moment, when he is standing above the fires of Mount Doom ready to destroy it, the protagonist falters, and finally caves in to the insurmountable pressure the ring has placed upon him. He slips the ring onto his finger, disappearing from the distressed Samwise who has accompanied him the whole way, and protects him through many of their perils. Gollum then manages to catch hold of Frodo and tear the ring from his hand, taking off his finger in the process.
Interestingly, it is also the third finger on his left hand, exactly the same as Sauron’s, which suggests that there may be a greater power at play of history repeating itself, or some wider force at work that isn’t understood by the characters in the story. It is well known that Tolkien himself liked the cyclical structure of epic poems like Beowulf, and many of the tales from Norse Mythology, so perhaps it is as simple as him wanting some sort of resonance with those tales of old.
However, Frodo then becomes like Sauron in another respect. After the events that transpire in Mordor, Frodo is never the same. He struggles to fit back into his life at Bag End, never finding love, never feeling quite at peace in the simplicity of his previous self. After four long years of struggle, in which his wound from the Morgul blade gives him constant pain and chills to the bone, he makes the difficult decision to leave his hobbit companions and journey west with the elves on a ship to the Undying Lands. Thus, he must leave Middle Earth, because he has been reduced to a former shell of himself.
Although the circumstances are vastly different, this is the same outcome for Sauron. When the One Ring is destroyed, Sauron doesn’t actually die, but is reduced to the point where he will never be able to gain power again. He is cast out to some unknown corner of the world, made to leave Middle Earth forever so that he may never again create suffering or hardships for the free peoples.
The loss of limbs seems to be a common occurrence in Tolkien’s works when dealing with strong and dangerous objects, the same can be seen of the elf maiden Luthien’s true love Beren, who loses a hand to a pack of wolves when trying to collect a Silmaril, and of Maedhros who also loses the same hand. It is clear that evil deeds beget evil outcomes, and those that are not mighty enough to resist the temptation are those who must pay the consequences.
Overall, the main difference between the hero of the ring and the evil lord of it is that Sauron is punished for his cruelty and malice, whereas Frodo is forgiven for his temptation, and awarded a place of high honour on one of the last ships to leave the harbor. Frodo never truly had bad intentions, but like so many before him, including both Isildur, and also Boromir of Gondor, he succumbed to a hard fate after a long and weary struggle.
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