[Kalimac]

Well said, Lush [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]. Another thing to keep in mind is whose point of view we're seeing the story from; the four hobbits are all very 3D characters, but the further away from them the players in the story are, the more two-dimensional they seem. I'd argue that this is as realistic as anything, especially considering the fact that these utterly unprepared hobbits have just been shoved headfirst into a war situation with Black Riders chasing them, etc. *They* are not going to see Sauron, or Saruman, as anything other than evil figures of doom whom it's healthier to avoid. It's one thing to reflect on Saruman's corruption from the comfort of Bag End, but if you're being dragged along to certain death by his Uruk-hai, you're not going to bother.

Similarly with the historical figures that Lush mentioned; I can't imagine that anyone trying to flee Nazi Germany would have seen Hitler as a fallible human with great evil potential; he would probably seem more like a *force* than anything else, especially if one had never seen him in real life. He'd seem less like a human than like some overarching demon trying to thwart you through various minions, all of whom would doubtless seem less than human to you as well. The fact that he was human, and was as 3D as everyone else in the world is, no matter how corrupt, simply wouldn't register. Why should it? There were more pressing things to consider.