Gollum do you pity him or hate him?

[red]

I have zero pity for that creature. If you read through The Shadow of the Past, you will see that Sméagol was evil from the beginning. He murdered before he ever touched the Ring. Both Frodo and Bilbo handled the Ring for years before it even started bringing out any malicious intent. No, Gollum was irredeemable because there was never any good to begin with.

Gollum was pitiable, but he ended in persistent wickedness, and the fact that this worked good was no credit to him. ... The domination of the Ring was much too strong for the mean soul of Sméagol. But he would have never had to endure it if he had not become a mean sort of thief before it crossed his path. (emphasis mine) -The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien #181

(credit to Sharkû for helping find the quotes)

[ January 03, 2003: Message edited by: red ]