As the Council of Elrond winds to a close and Frodo Baggins submits himself to a heart-wrenching task, the Heads reflect on the relationship between Evil and Power, taking Saruman and Gandalf as points of study.
How does a good person become swayed to wicked actions? Is it the Ring itself that corrupts, or is it the Ring’s power that corrupts?
RANDOM-ASS THEME: Yoga pants
Your discussion of Saruman also made me think of Harry Potter, albeit in a different way: Saruman is portrayed as cunning, *the* core trait of Slytherin house. But while the trait is portrayed as negatively in both stories, effectively the “good guys” show cunning as well, don’t they?
In our world, I see many “rings” that are our responsibility… nuclear waste for sure, but also greenhouse gas emissions or other side-products of industry. Don’t ask me why, but the mining industry came to my mind, where huge amounts of environmentally hazardous waste are being stored in massive ponds all over the globe, or in some cases being released into the environment directly. But let’s just keep all that stuff lying around, because why should we deal with it?
LikeLike