Of Domination and Tools

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

I agree with this to a large extent, but I also think that in their representations of Gandalf to others there was a lot of intentional misrepresentation and lying going on.

I would agree about Saruman, but I think Denethor genuinely believes what he says of Gandalf. Maybe at some point in the past he convinced himself that Gandalf means no good, and at that point it would have been a deliberate misrepresentation, but now Denethor truly sees Gandalf as someone who could use him as a tool (and yes, he could use him as a tool) and who isn't trustworthy.