Wk. 3 Ch. 5 - Malice, Fairness, and Pity

[Sparrow]

Before Bilbo escapes from Gollum, he has the chance to kill the creature. In desperation, Bilbo intends to do so, then refrains, held back by the unfairness of the match and overcome by a sense of compassion for Gollum. Why must a fight against a malicious creature be fair? Why should Bilbo pity Gollum? How many times is the word pity used in this chapter?

[Desi Baggins]

This probably doesn't really answer any of Sparrows questions, but it sort of fits...

I always felt that the fact that Bilbo did not kill Gollum hurt Gollum more than if he did. Not being killed made Gullom feel the power and lost of the Ring and it drove him crazy.

[Androga Erindalant]

It shows good manners to fight fair, according to the rules of engagement. Attacking someone in the back, without offering the chance of defense is cruel. Only evil creatures would do such things, and we all know Bilbo isn't evil (even though he had been hired as a thief lol).

On Desi's comment: I think Bilbo doesn't even realize death can be a bliss for someone who has been tortured for almost his whole life (I think I can say Gollum was tortured by the Ring lol, since his state of living became much worse). Gollum was consumed by the preciousss, which only becomes worse when it's lost. I think he doesn't know how to live without it, especially if we take into account that it gave him an unnatural long life.

Bilbo sees Gollum in despair after the precious is lost. It probably was the only thing he really loved in all those long years in the cave. Bilbo sees a very unhappy creature. That's why he pities Gollum.

[Desi Baggins]

Orgulas,
Good point about only evil creature/people would fight unfair!!!

[Stormrider]

Bilbo was a good hobbit and killing anyone was not something he could have done easily. Gollum was very wretched and evil and would have throttled Bilbo in the blink of an eye. But being a decent hobbit, Bilbo's compassion stayed his hand. And on other threads, we have all discussed the unknown forces that could have had a part in giving Bilbo that pity so he would not kill Gollum.

As long as he was invisible and able to get away from Gollum, there really wan't any need to actually kill Gollum. Killing is a very violent reaction and one Bilbo wouldn't have done easily.