What do we talk about when we talk about characters?

[The Silver-shod Muse]

For the most part, I concur, Aratlithiel.

One point that generated interest in Saruman for me is the question of whether or not he really believed he was in the right in accepting Sauron's offers.

There are people that have known from the beginning that their actions are wrong, but they convince themselves so thoroughly that they are right, so completely reverse the shades of their world, that they truly believe that wrong is right (this works in reverse too). Was it so in Saruman's case? Could he turn that voice of persuasion inward to his own intellect, or were his actions the result of his jealousy of Gandalf, a jealousy he was aware of and knew to be sinful?

That last look to the West - was it remorse, despair, or was it confusion and hatred?

I don't believe that Tolkien gives sympathy to his villains

I certainly felt sympathy for Saruman. His terrible, bitter words to Frodo in the Shire stirred deep sadness and regret. It wasn't until then that he became more than a plot device. It was only in his ruin that he could become, suddenly and poignantly, a character.