Did Gollum deserve death?

[davem]

Originally Posted by Raynor

It is Gollum who is haunted, persistently, by his evil deeds, even after five centuries. Your downplaying is unwarranted.

Nope. This implies that he had almost completely convinced himself that there was nothing to feel guilty about.

You will find that Tolkien was writting about Gollum coming within a hair of repentance, if it wasn't for Sam, as early as 1945. You can't brush this aside as you see fit. .

I can. Its not your book, so you can't, I'm afraid, tell me how to read it. And neither can Tolkien. My understanding of Gollum's nature is perfectly logical (though not everyone may agree with it).