This thread has developed to be even more interesting than it was in the beginning. Amazing.
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Originally Posted by Legate
Hmm, while I agree with the former cases, I have to disagree on this one, as it's not quite in the position of "power" as the other ones. This was not the question of using or not using power, it was a question of giving or not giving up something. (And maybe even about giving up power - from certain point of view. Fëanor was unable to make the Silmarils again.) It would be the same question if Fëanor just had the power to revive the Trees with no loss for himself (for example, that he could do that repeatingly just like that), and not did that. But this way, I see it as something different.
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A fair point, but now this got me thinking... about suffering personal losses. Fëanor didn't do the thing that would have cost him something personally. But if we take other examples, how do they relate to personal losses? Refusing to use the power is not always good for the characters' personal good. For example, Galadriel refuses to take the Ring and in that she accepts the diminishing of her power and the loss of her realm, and ultimately, gives up Middle-Earth itself. (Hey, wow, now this is very interesting, for it sets Galadriel and Fëanor - okay I know this is problematic an a little far-fetched but who cares
- the two most powerful of the Noldor, in a nice comparison. Fëanor chooses personal good over common good and the result is bad. Galadriel chooses common good over personal good and the result is good. Wouldn't it work nicely?
Now, the problem of course is that we cannot judge Galadriel's decision in such a black-and-white way, because it was also partly good for her personally not to take the immense burden on herself and also, it would have been kind of for the common good if she had taken the Ring and started to make things right. Ha, actually my "problem" sounds rather feeble. Maybe it's more black-and-white after all and we can make such a comparison? Interesting...) I see I got a bit carried away, but it's very interesting. I think there's a lot to explore in the relation between common good and personal good when it comes to using or not using the power...