Did Gollum deserve death?

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Folwren

Bilbo didn't even attack Frodo (much less kill him) when he knew that Frodo had the Ring in Rivendel. And Bilbo had already born the Ring. Don't you suppose the lure was strong on him, too?

I'm not denying that fact. I happen to recall that Bilbo was even briefly overtaken by this lust, but managed to control himself.

Originally Posted by Folwren

And a lion, if it came to a village of people and started slaughtering the inhabitents, whether or not the lion deserved to be hungry and deserved to eat, the people would kill it.

Slaughtering many people is different from killing one person. Minor details aside, do you think the lion "deserves" to die because it kills a human or some humans because it's hungry? Or, actually, if this lion had killed a human in the savanna because it was hungry, would you say it deserves to die?

Originally Posted by Folwren

But when he first saw the Ring and when he first had the ring, if he had been a good fellow, like Bilbo and Frodo both were, he wouldn't have 1. killed Deagol for it, 2. wouldn't have used it to steal things from his Grandmother as soon as he got it, and 3. wouldn't have been kicked out of society because of it.

I don't like dividing people to good and bad people, even if it's said to be relative. In my opinion Gollum was not evil. Certainly not in the beginning, but not in the end either. Sméagol was a normal guy. Not maybe the every girl's dream guy, but very human (or very hobbit, if that fits better ). The main fault in his character was greed. This was the perilous thing. If his fault would have been say laziness or rudeness, nothing would have happened. But it was greed. The Ring used Sméagol's greed. That's why he acted so quickly. The other persons you mention - Frodo, Bilbo, Boromir, Tom Bombadil - were not greedy and thus they managed as well as they did. Not beacuse they were somehow "better".

While speaking about Gollum eating orcs and intending to eat Bilbo, some people seem to assume he had a choice. But how much choice did he really have? What is there to eat in caves? Not much, I say. Maybe the fish, but that's not enough. Catching sly fish with no helpful items is difficult. (It's probably more easy to catch an orc.) The stock of fish in the subterranean pools is limited. And I think that one orc fills your stomach much better than one fish. (Just look at the size of them.)

Originally Posted by Raynor

You still ignore that intention defines morality.

That is a personal (yet admittedly common) moral conception, not an universal truth, so I don't think you should present it as a fact.