Actually another thing LotR does really well is making it clear that absolutely anyone CAN be redeemed, they just CHOOSE not to be.
Gollum’s the biggest example, of course–he’s so repellant but also so pitiable and you SEE that he still has the road to goodness open, but he doesn’t QUITE take it, but he COULD, and you WANT him to. But it’s true of everyone here.
Grima is offered like five second chances at various points, but he keeps going back to Saruman because that’s what he knows and it is, in a twisted way, easier even when it makes him miserable. Saruman is asked by Gandalf to return to them, and it’s a genuine offer of reconciliation, and we feel the tragedy when he wavers and then rejects it. Denethor is also given a path back to the light by Gandalf, who tells him he can do his duty by leading his people and dying in battle against the Darkness–and, again, although he refuses, we can imagine him accepting and regaining his honor.
And to accentuate this, we see people who fall and ARE redeemed! Boromir falls to the Ring, and attacks Frodo–but he repents, rejects what he has done, and takes up the right task set before him even though it kills him. Theoden is corrupted by Grima, and spurns Gandalf and the rest–but then he listens to Gandalf, takes up his duties as ruler, and goes to lead his people even though he expects to die doing it.
We SEE, in LotR, that mercy and reconcilation are available to every character, even the most despicable. We also see that some people won’t take it, even when freely offered, due to the obstacles that have built up in their souls–but that they COULD, even if it would be very difficult. And–most importantly, imo–we feel bad whenever a villain ISN’T redeemed. Not because they “deserve” it, but because it would have been good for them.
