by Marcus_P_Hagen » January 9th, 2006, 11:14 pm
I voted for Gollum/Smeagol, because I was drawn in by the way that Tolkien took him from being a purely evil villain in "The Hobbit", to being _almost_ redeemed by the agape love which Frodo shows him, and then, heartbreakingly, falls back into the pit.
Tolkien's comment about how the interaction of Sam & Gollum shows the way that the "good" can make it difficult for the "bad" to repent has haunted me since reading it. I look at people I meet, some of whom are VERY scary, and reflect that their lives may have brought them to this pass, but that they are still people for whom Jesus died. In bringing the character of Gollum to my memory, Tolkien has helped me immeasurably.
Marcus