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Is it possible for we humans to show that kind of mercy like Frodo did? Does anybody have that ablity to "sense the light" or possess that level of insight?
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Ultimately, any answer to this question probably depends on your view of the human situation and of human nature. I would say "yes", but in a tentative and halting way.
I remember Tolkien saying--I read it somewhere, perhaps in the Letters--that in the LOTR he was not writing about the average member of the hobbit community but certain unusually gifted and talented individuals who stood out from the community at large and who had, in effect, been selected for their tasks. While I might not use the same language that Tolkien does, I do think that, in the course of human history, such individuals do exist, but they are certainly rare.
Such individuals have the ability to look beyond surface reality and see things that, for others, remain unseen. I will mention one example of such a person I have personally seen in my own lifetime, that of Martin Luther King, Jr. At a time when evil was directed to him, he showed the ultimate mercy by not responding or advocating violence. Instead he pointed to a gentler road because he could see some light in society as a whole and believed in the possibility of change. I do think that in order to grant mercy on a personal level, it is absolutely essential that the individual be able to see the light in that other person's heart or soul. If we peer into someone's heart and only see evil, we would be true fools to offer complete mercy or kindness. Martin Luther King, for example, could never have advocated a gentle way in Hitler's Germany. It would be like giving Sauron a pardon so he could continue torturing people, instead of doing to him what needed to be done. At the very least, we would need to be able to restrain that evil creature from doing further harm.
The real question perhaps is not whether there are people who can see the light in other people's souls, but whether there are people on this earth who have absolutely no goodness inside them. The history of the 20th century suggests such individuals do exist, but this too is a difficult question which rests on your view of the human situation.
In any case, the scene where Gollum gently touches Frodo's knee suggests that the latter was correct in seeing deep down in Gollum some capability for repentence. I don't think Frodo was intending to change the world or even generate goodness by a simple act like this, but, taken cumulatively in our world, such acts of mercy or forgiveness could have an effect.
As for how I would act, that is another question. In theory, for example, I might argue that the death penalty is unjust, that the state doesn't have the right to take life in this premeditated manner. Yet, if faced with a concrete personal situation in which someone I loved had been hurt or injured, my response would perhaps and sadly be different. I would have a hard time seeing that light, even if there was evidence that it existed.
All this, of course, assumes a relaivly safe situation where it is possible to think and ponder alternatives. If faced with immediate threat to life, our own or especially that of our families, I think very few of us would respond in a gentle manner. And here, I think, we would be justified on some level. I know there are philosophies which say otherwise but I am too tied to the West to think differently. Even here, though, there may be choices. There is a difference between shooting someone in the leg and someone in the head, for example. Goodness, this is a long and rambling discourse, but a question such as this has so many sides to look at and is not easy to untangle! sharon, the 7th age hobbit
[ April 23, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]