Progress on The Fellowship of the Ring, Part 3

[bunnyboo]

Gandalf’s talk with Frodo is probably one of my favorite parts of Fellowship.

 

I think an explanation of the Ring (as it’s revealed to be a specific ring) and its power is definitely necessary at this point, especially for readers of The Hobbit who might’ve passed it off as simply a ring that makes you invisible. After all, the whole series is going to be about transporting and destroying the Ring so an info dump is justified. The thing is, it doesn’t feel like an info dump; it feels like a regular (if important) conversation, even with all the history and lore being tossed around. Gandalf being Gandalf definitely helps that—he’s a natural font of wisdom—but Frodo’s questions and their back and forth all is very natural. Frodo asks all the questions we as readers want to know.

As for the nature of the Ring itself, I always liked the inherent drama of an object that’s incredibly useful but inevitably corrupting—just think of all the great stuff that’ll come from Frodo’s morality and good nature warring with the evil of the Ring, the struggle to keep from using it but the necessity to do so, the growing paranoia and reliance on an object that must be given up and destroyed! It puts me in mind of Les Misérables for some reason. Maybe it has to do with a good natured man just being put through the wringer for doing the right thing, where just giving up and giving in would be so much easier but mustn’t come to be. This internal conflict is, to quote Austin Powers, “my bag.” It’s different than the conflict in Frankenstein—where the conflict came from people not having agency because of fate—and I think it’s better. The drama comes from the choice to be good in the face of evil, no matter how difficult, and I just really like that kind of message—good is hard.

Gollum’s backstory was fascinating, and I like how he’s a clear parallel to both Bilbo and Frodo—being of a hobbit-y nature and naturally inquisitive. He was always kind of creepy, but he didn’t cross over into evil until he made the choice to kill his best friend in favor of the Ring. Another choice he made was, presumably against the Ring’s will (and therefore a testament to the internal strength of hobbit-kind), to retreat into the mountains, unknowingly keeping it out of Sauron’s grasp. I think another character, one as under the Ring’s influence as Gollum, wouldn’t have been able to do that. I do like that it’s not just a “oh, you’ve been corrupted by the Ring, now you must do exactly as it wants you to do.” There is the idea that the Ring chooses its owner, but I prefer the interpretation that you can resist it even if it’s incredibly difficult or nearly impossible. Choices are everything.

Anyways, Gollum is both pitiable and contemptable, and it’s interesting that Frodo says he has no pity for him—at least now. He has no concept or experience of how corrupting the Ring’s influence can be, even after hearing Gollum’s tale and Bilbo’s own reluctance to give it up. There’s little signs that Frodo is already becoming attached to the Ring (or is it becoming attached to him?) but he can’t comprehend how a good-natured person, with the best of intentions, can be seduced into evil.

I find Frodo’s comments on the Shire interesting; he’s both insulting and fond of it. The way he puts it—“I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again.”—is really beautiful to me. The Shire is his home, but it’s not his destiny and it’s something he wants to protect, even at the cost of never being able to return. There’s value to the Shire and the hobbits that others can’t see—Sauron dismissed them and perhaps never even heard of them before Gollum spilled the beans, Gandalf comments that you could “learn all that there is to know about [hobbits] in a month” but that they can still surprise you, and pretty much everyone that’s not a hobbit (and even those who are) are dismissive of them. And yet they still save the day in the end, not through their physical strength or their charisma or their powerful connections but through the strength of their character and their hearts. I really like that.

I do like that Frodo initially decides that he has to go alone—it’s his burden, after all—but Gandalf recognizes the power of and need for companions. It’s not just strength in numbers, not just hired mercenaries and pack mules, but friends and companions that he needs. To me, the Ring wants its user to be isolated, to be all alone and reliant on it and it alone for support, so at least by having some friends for support—physically and emotionally—you can stave it off a little longer. Samwise is the perfect companion for Frodo. He’s essentially the Shire if the Shire was a person—kind, slow to adapt to change, somewhat wary of outsiders. He’s a connection and a reminder of home, more so than Pippin or Merry who have that natural sense of adventure to them. He becomes more important when Frodo comes in contact with Gollum, but I’ll wait until then to comment on it because the Sam/Frodo/Gollum dynamic is one of my favorite things about the series (but, uh, 100% in a shipping way—that’s gross).

I’m excited to read through this again now that I can actually focus on certain themes and relationships instead of just going through the plot points and desperately trying to get through Boromir’s family lineage without forgotting who the hell Peregrin is.