How evil was Lotho?
May. 5th, 2005 06:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamflowerAnyone who has read very many of my fics *knows* I have a very strong antipathy to Lotho Pimple, self-styled "Chief" of the Shire. The last couple of weeks though, I've been having a very interesting debate wtih a gentleman on the rec.arts.books.tolkien/alt.fan.tolkien newsgroups on the subject.
He seems to think Lotho was simply doing what he thought of as "good business", and that as soon as the ruffians arrived, they took over and were responsible for all the wickedness that took place afterward.
We've just about argued to a standstill.
He's pretty entrenched in his position, as am I. But I'm wondering if anyone else sees this as a likely scenario? Was Lotho just a victim, like the other hobbits?
(Not bloody likely. But anyway...)
He seems to think Lotho was simply doing what he thought of as "good business", and that as soon as the ruffians arrived, they took over and were responsible for all the wickedness that took place afterward.
We've just about argued to a standstill.
He's pretty entrenched in his position, as am I. But I'm wondering if anyone else sees this as a likely scenario? Was Lotho just a victim, like the other hobbits?
(Not bloody likely. But anyway...)
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Date: 2005-05-04 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-05 01:23 am (UTC)I don't say he wasn't a victim at all, but he was not a complete dupe, he was not held prisoner the whole time (that would have had to have been from shortly after New Year, when the Men began to come in until his demise at the hands of Worm, no sooner than two weeks before the Travellers returned.)
I mean, that's just ridiculous!
I think the signal that he had finally lost control of things was when they arrested Lobelia.