Evil Manifested in the Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien had many ways of portraying evil in the Lord of the Rings. Evil is mainly manifested primarily in Sauron, Saruman and Wormtongue. These three antagonists are not exactly the same brand of evil, however. Sauron’s evil is the will to dominate and control all life in the world, while Saruman and Wormtongue's evil are the forces of corruption.
Sauron is a totalitarian leader who wants nothing less than total control of all of Middle Earth. He created the Rings of Power to control all of the races of Middle Earth. He is successful with the race of Men, the nine kings he gave Rings to become the ring wraiths and serve Sauron mercilessly. Like all totalitarian leaders, Sauron has a weakness, and in Lord of the Rings, his weakness is obviously the Ring itself. Sauron foolishly put all of his power in what Tom Bombadil would call a trinket, and its destruction ultimately is Sauron’s destruction. Another aspect of Sauron’s evil is his intentions. When Hitler and Mussolini first came to power, their countries were war torn and in need of a good leader to repair the damage from World War I. Eventually, their quests for greatness got out of control and caused World War II. Mordor is a desolate wasteland, however Sauron has no intention of revitalizing the economy or making it a better place. He wants to control Middle Earth simply for the sake of controlling Middle Earth and to enslave all life and force it to serve him.
Saruman and Wormtongue are a different brand of evil. Saruman was once a good wizard like Gandalf. They were in the same order together with several other wizards. Using a pair of Palantir, Sauron corrupts Saruman by showing him that it is hopeless to resist him and his armies, and Saruman joined Sauron’s side. Sauron then uses Saruman as a tool to destroy Rohan. First Saruman has Wormtongue corrupt King Theoden, and then they attack Rohan at Helm’s Deep. If Saruman hadn’t given in to madness and joined Sauron, the battle for Middle Earth would have been easier for the race of men, since they would not have to fight Saruman. Saruman and Wormtongue represent the forces of corruption both as corruptors and people who are corrupted. Saruman is corrupted by Sauron, and then Saruman corrupts Wormtongue and makes him try to destroy Rohan. Wormtongue works to corrupt Rohan by giving King Theoden bad counsel with a voice enchanted by Saruman.
Although Sauron, Saruman and Wormtongue are all evil characters in the Lord of the Rings, they are all evil in a different way. Sauron is evil in that he wants to rule the world and everyone in it, whereas Saruman and Wormtongue were once good people who have been corrupted by evil and become antagonists.