Of Domination and Tools

[Alfirin]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I would say that Sauron planted the seed, but the thoughts grew in both of them independently of him and of each other.

With Denethor, the source of that kind of thinking is a basic mistrust of other people. Instead of allies helping each other, you see one using the other, and maybe even misusing him. Denethor's mistrust is directly related to his nightly reality shows (how proper to name it such...). He grew to trust none of Gondor's allies, no strangers, not even all of his own people. And, on top of that, Gandalf did not seem to be a figure that would easily invite his trust - he knows a lot, he does not talk of everything, he brings bad news, etc. It's easy then to go to the next step and say that Gandalf is using Gondor for his own hidden purposes.

And to be fair to Denthor, a lot of what Gandalf does say isn't exactlty designed to inspire confidence in him as being one who has either Denethor or Minas Tirith as high priorties. He does say"The rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come" We can see that Gandalf simply has bigger concerns, but to Denethor who has Gondor and ONLY Gondor as his concern it can easily sound along the lines of "I don't care if you and all you hold dear burns, in my eyes all of it is all but worthless." Part of the reason that Denethor is so araid of being Gandalf tool is that, on some level, that is exactly what Gnadalf wants of him, to do as her says without question, even knowing that Gandalf has no qualms about sacraficing him, his son and even his legacy in the pursuit of his goals. Gandalf basically demands the deepest level of blind faith. For someone like Denethor that's totally agaisnt his personality.