I read your quote before and I read it again. Nowhere does it say he was evil before the ring. Mean is not evil. Tell me, have you ever been mean to someone? Probably yes, but that does not mean that you are evil. He may have been mean, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was evil.
You said
Quote:
|
there was never any good to begin with.
|
That, is not true. You can't say that because you don't know it. Tolkiens never said that he was no good before the ring. I mean, he actually might have been, but then again, he might not have. No one knows. We can't be sure, but most likely he wasn't always mean and most likely, there was good. How would he even have a friend in the first place if he was mean all the time and evil? I really don't think that Smeagol was evil, or always mean for that matter.
But anyways, do you still not pity him?