[The Saucepan Man]

Thank you for your highly informative post, Bill.

The distinction between repentance and redemption is of course a correct one to make. When a character repents, this can be made clear to the reader through that character's actions in the story. So, we can see that Boromir repents in both word and deed. The Dunlendings too appear to repent after Helms Deep, on witnessing the mercy of the Rohirrim, when they assist in burying the dead and, in Erkenbrand's words, help to repair the evil that they have joined. We can imagine that many of the Easterlings, Haradrim, Southrons and Variags similarly repent for their allying themselves with Sauron. For Gollum, Wormtongue and Saruman, we are given no evidence of repentance.

When considering redemption, it is of course important to consider who is doing the redeeming. To look at whether the characters are redeemed in the eyes of Eru takes us into the realm of speculation. While we can posit that those characters that we see repenting are redeemed in his eyes, we can never know whether the likes of Gollum or Wormtongue are given any opportunity to repent in the afterlife (if indeed there is an afterlife for them).

Which is why I am looking at it from the eyes of the reader. Are those who are portrayed in the story as repenting redeemed in the eyes of the reader? Most would probably think that they are, although there are those who consider Boromir, for example, to be an evil character, which would suggest that he is not redeemed in their eyes.

When looked at in this way, Gollum is perhaps the most interesting character. He does not repent, and so does not earn redemption from the reader in that way. He is nevertheless portrayed at times as a character deserving of our sympathy. He has been corrupted by the Ring and it might therefore be said that he is not fully in control of his actions (I hold with the view that he was not inherently evil and that he killed Deagol under the influence of the Ring). He assists Frodo and Sam in their journey to Mordor and (for a time at least) is persuaded by Frodo's kindness not to strangle the Hobbitses in their sleep. Do these factors not render him deserving of redemption in our eyes, even if he displays no repentance in his final act?

[ January 28, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]