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The interesting thing about Shelob (to me) has always been that she most emphatically did not associate herself with Sauron at all. I am working away from my books *sob* but as I can recall, we hear that Shelob "cared not for towers or rings" and that she did not acknowledge or care about Sauron's claims to sovereignty (which makes her a lot like the good guys, now that I come to think of it).
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In my opinion Shelob wasn't really evil. She was just doing what needed to do to survive, and it seemed like the Balrog was just protecting his territory.
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I agree. In my opinion, Shelob stands outside any category of evil monsters, for one, because she didn't feel related to Sauron, and she was not only feared by the good guys, but also by the orcs, which she had for dinner... Just doing what was needed to survive, is very well put.
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The other pattern I see is one charted by the Barrow Wights, the Balrog and the Mouth of Sauron. Each of them is doing Sauron's work, but as we move through the novel each one is successively more and more aware of how he/it is doing Sauron's work.
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Good point. I believe that it symbolises the distance between the evil creatures and Sauron. The closer they are to Sauron's dwelling, the more they are aware of who they are "working" for.