Quote:
|
If the reader feels sympathy for Gollum...then might he not be redeemed in the reader's eyes?
|
I see what you're saying, but I think this can only be the case if the reader confuses sympathy for redemtion and we've already established (I believe) that redemption is not possible without atonement. Redemption is not predicated on sympathy. There are dozens of religious texts in which Lucifer may appear as a sympathetic character, but that does not make him deserving of redemption.
__________________
- I must find the Mountain of Fire and cast the thing into the gulf of Doom. Gandalf said so. I do not think I shall ever get there.
- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
- Where are we going?...And why am I in this handbasket?
|