Progress on The Two Towers, Part 3

[bunnyboo]

By my estimation, I’m about halfway through Book IV. What better time to do a post?

Oh, yes. YES. This has all been about Sam and Frodo and Gollum. But, strangely, I’m not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. I can’t quite figure out why that is. There’s just less explicit (uh, maybe wrong choice of words here) musing on the Ring than I hoped for. There’s a lot of background stuff going on, a lot of subtle hints and connections to the major themes, but nothing like what I was expecting. Is this another case of the films coloring my perceptions of the books? I dunno.

In any case, I’ve enjoyed Sméagol’s (and Gollum’s) interaction with Frodo and Sam. Something that I noted in my reading is, when Gollum came too close, Sam struck first. He would’ve lost, yes, but Sam was the one who attacked Gollum and not the other way around. I think that’s significant. Maybe it’s a sign of the Ring’s influence fading and Gollum’s mind clearing, but I don’t think that’s quite it. I think it has to do with Sam being the voice of the Shire on this journey, kind of. Obviously it’s not in hobbit nature to be violent, but it is to defend one’s home and loved ones—that being Frodo. The fact that he struck without direct provocation is interesting. It shows that he jumped to conclusions, that he judged Gollum’s intentions before they were clear, and he acted on prejudice. (I swear, I’m not going to bring up that word as much as I did in Frankenstein.) That was always something I noticed in the films too—Sam carries a lot of ill conceptions about strange people or places. That’s very hobbit-like, I think. Frodo is more open-minded, but I’ll discuss that in a bit. I like that Sam’s this way. It adds some depth to his character, gives Frodo a different and more skeptical perspective (should he ever ask for it), and I think it solidifies Sam as a key figure in The Lord of the Rings. He’s this reminder of home and “normalcy” that Frodo so desperately needs, and he’s not idly letting his master make all the decisions. He’s thinking and judging and growing as a person. He’s a character on the move, if you catch my drift. It’s really cool, and it keeps him from being this one-note servant of Frodo’s.

Now onto Frodo’s relationship with Gollum! I like the discussion of mercy and kindness we see here. Tolkien seems firmly in the camp that kindness does not equal weakness—“blindness,” as it is in the text. He trust Gollum to an extent, a great subversion of what he said at the beginning of Fellowship which is something the book even explicitly quotes.

“What a pity Bilbo did not stab the vile creature, when he had a chance!

Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need.

I do not feel any pity for Gollum. He deserves death.

Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give that to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends.”

Sam, even though he heard this while eavesdropping on Gandalf’s and Frodo’s conversation, forgot this as he thinks for a while that Frodo was just being ignorant of Gollum’s nature, but it stuck with Frodo. Something has changed within him to make him stay his hand, something big. I think it’s because he has a greater understanding of the Ring and its power over people, how twisted they can make even one’s friends and companions. It’s interesting that he’s still capable of mercy and pity, even under the Ring’s influence. I think that’s a testament to his character and that of hobbits in general. Still, there’s a lot of word choice and imagery in Frodo’s and Gollum’s interactions that makes it not such an equal partnership. In observing a few interactions, Sam likens Frodo to a “lord” or a dog’s master, someone who has complete and total control over Gollum by right—entitled to that control. He’s starting to wield command, just like the Ring preys upon. Also, the master-servant relationship between Sam and Frodo versus Gollum and Frodo is interesting in its contrasts. Sam truly loves Frodo, cares for him, and acts in his best interests to the best of his ability. Gollum’s servitude is more like slavery, though he does develop a fondness for Frodo based on his kindness. It’s also interesting that Gollum’s ultimate argument against Sméagol is that they’ll use the Ring to make Sam “crawl” in subservience and become the “master” in place of Frodo.

Speaking of Gollum, he was the most interesting character of this chunk of reading. There’s a lot of great drama and a lot of complexity to his speech patterns and behavior. I like the splitting of Sméagol and Gollum into these two separate personalities. Well, I don’t think personality is the right word now that I think about it. They’re really two separate beings who inhabit the same body—one indebted to Frodo’s kindness and the other still obsessed with the Ring. We get to see more of his thought processes and mannerisms, some explanation of the power the Ring holds over him, and I think that really sells the moment when Sméagol loses control to Gollum—when the Nazgul flies overhead and reminds him of his first and only master, the Ring. This conflict between friendship (or at least tolerance) and power is great stuff. Sméagol is given this taste of being cared for and appreciated, and he is almost able to resist the Ring’s power even after hundreds of years of being its keeper. His use of “I” statements is interesting and commented on by Frodo. He thinks that it “seemed to be a sign, on its rare appearances, that some remnants of old truth and sincerity were for the moment on top.” I think this is accurate, but I think that it’s a sign of Gollum making independent choices too—asserting himself against the Ring’s wishes. Gollum is even capable of betraying the Ring by suggesting an alternate path instead of leading them right to the Gate. It’s for evil ends, sure, but it’s still defiance. I’m not sure if he would’ve been able to do that if he hadn’t been bolstered by his connection with Frodo.

Hm. I have less to say on this than I did in previous posts. I think it’s because I’m still processing a lot of it and trying to see how it all fits. In other news, I've decided to take a break from LotR after this and start on a Max Brooks book I've been thinking about, Devolution: a firsthand account of the Rainier Sasquatch massacre. I was a big fan of Brooks' World War Z back in the day.