Redefining Good & Evil

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Hakon

The way one views good and evil is the way they are taught to. If one is raised in a society that views murder and rape as a good thing than they view good as that and they view not doing that as bad. In our society we view it as murder and rape are evil. It is simply perspective. In LotR look at Saruman. He thinks he is doing the right thing by betraying Gandalf yet we view him as evil.

Tolkien clearly portrays Saruman as a character who knew better, but fell into foolishness and evil. Unless you're willing to deny the importance of authorial intent, you can't really make a case that Saruman was other than a villain. I mean, would you try to argue that he was raised in a society where betrayal was considered the norm for social interaction? Of course not. Society had nothing to do with it. Saruman alone deceived himself and told himself that he was doing right when he was doing wrong - at least to begin with. The Saruman of "The Scouring of the Shire" hardly appears to consider himself a righteous martyr for a good cause, which he ought to if your assertion regarding the circumstantial nature of good and evil were correct. Right from the beginning of "The Silmarillion," Tolkien clearly delineates between what is the will of Eru and what is not. One is good. One is bad. Saruman, of all people, as a Maia spirit who had been about since the beginning of time, would have been thoroughly, thoroughly acquainted with this.