How did Saruman become evil?
NOTE: Originally answered on Quora: Sasha Bogdan's answer to "How did Saruman become evil?" The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War wallpaper Well, suffice to say, Saruman’s descent into evil did not happen overnight. It was a gradual process: 1. The first signs manifested through his resentment towards Gandalf: “Saruman soon became jealous of Gandalf, and this rivalry turned at last to a hatred, the deeper for being concealed, and the more bitter in that Saruman knew in his heart that the Grey Wanderer had the greater strength, and the greater influence upon the dwellers in Middle-earth, even though he hid his power and desired neither fear nor reverence. Saruman did not revere him, but he grew to fear him, being ever uncertain how much Gandalf perceived of his inner mind, troubled more by his silences than by his words. So it was that openly he treated Gandalf with less respect than did others of the Wise, and was ever ready to gainsay him or to make little of his counsels;...
