The atrocity of the Akallabêth

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Within the context of the story, mind you...., to call 'sick' Eru's retribution against the disobedience and evil to which the Numenoreans had fallen, is to take the side of the disobedient and evil Numenoreans. The reader is of course welcome to identify with any character in any story as s/he sees fit. Some of us identify with Elves, others with Men, some with Eru, some with the Valar; and I suppose some readers might even be willing to identify with Ar Pharazon or Sauron, who, it is certain, would consider Eru's decision to punish them for their wickedness, most deplorable. But that does not make their wickedness any the less deserving of the punishment that Eru, within the context of the story, apparently decides they are worthy of.

I agree, in fact you could say...let's put it politely as I can...that this is one of those instances where Eru just gets it over and done with and scitan happens, as they say.

But still, I am sure there are no other instances where children are lumped in with the sins of the fathers, where they are viewed as being likely to carry the same 'evil'; I want to know if there are as this will help square it up. So why kill the innocents? The only way I can get my head around this, even within the context of the secondary world, is to assume that Eru allowed them to die too to underscore the tragedy which resulted from their fathers' wrongdoing. Which is poetic, but still a bit sick.