Saruman

[TheLostPilgrim]

Here is what I do not get about Saruman's descent into evil:

Shouldn't he, of all people, have known that the Ring could only work evil? That it could not be used for a noble or good purpose, for example, it could not be used to defeat Sauron and for peace to be restored? Someone like Boromir, who was attempted by the Ring, I doubt knew half as much about it, or it's true nature, as Saruman. Saruman was a Maiar and thus knew exactly what Sauron was, and the nature of Sauron's power, since they were of the same race--He had to know what evil Sauron and anything he touched was.

Beyond that, did Saruman not realize he was falling to evil?

What was his aim, exactly--did he want to conquer all of Middle Earth, just as Sauron did? And if he conquered it, what then? Sauron seems to have wanted to utterly industrialize and order and organize and destroy the world as it was, in essence...What would a Saruman led Middle Earth have looked like?