Upon Rereading The Lord of the Rings

The first time that I read The Lord of the Rings, I did so in three pieces. I think I read each before each movie was released. What struck me then was the change in Aragorn and Frodo over time. And then, there was also that moment in the third book when a lightbulb went off and I thought to myself, "Huh...who knew all along that it was Samwise Gamgee who was the real hero of these books?"

This time around, I read the whole thing as a book of its own instead of split into three parts. That changes it somehow. This time, I was struck by the four hobbits. The movies have an influence on this too. In the movies, Merry is sort of the calm peacemaker. He's just sort of there to keep Pippin out of too much trouble and support Frodo along the way. Pippin is an immature kid in the movies. He is the one who will always stumble into trouble. Sam is the doting friend who is loyal in an almost dog-like way. Frodo...well, Frodo seems like an elf in hobbit disguise.

In the books, Merry and Pippin are both brave and do their own part to save Middle Earth. In both the movie and the book, Pippin is drawn to the palentir. In the movie, Gandalf yells at him and then drags him off for an epic ride on Shadowfax. While this is true of the book too, in the book we see into Pippin's thoughts and how this moment changes him. He doesn't want to be the goof off anymore. He wants to play his own part, but not in a selfish way. When he volunteers his service to the king in the movie, it looks impetuous, but it makes more sense in the book. He is responding to the king's pain and doing what he feels he can to help. Gandalf takes it for an impetuous move, sure, but he also responds to it with much the same surprise that he felt when Frodo said, "I will take it, though I do not know the way."

Merry has his own moment of feeling left out and wishing he could help. In some ways, his character serves to further emphasize things that are happening with other characters. He is sort of a book end to Pippin in that he also ends up as a knight or servant to the king of Rohan. Merry sort of feels like he is nothing more than a court jester kept around to keep things light-hearted for the king. While it is true that the king of Rohan wants to hear Merry's tales and songs, I am sure that the king also benefits from Merry's fresh perspective. Everyone else in the kingdom has just seen the king wasting away and losing his mind for the past however many years. Merry sees him as he is now. He is also able to see Eowyn as she is now, as Eowyn is able to see Merry for who he is. Both want to help fight because they cannot stand to be left behind to do nothing but worry. If everyone they love is off fighting, then that is where they want to be too even though they are both seen as less than able. Both characters have their moment where they save Middle Earth in dramatic fashion and in a way that Sauron would never have anticipated because both Eowyn and Merry are easy to overlook and underestimate.

Both Frodo and Sam continue the "everyman" hobbit theme. The whole point here with the hobbits is that they were not destined for greatness in anyway. The ring came to Bilbo in the most unexpected way, and then it was given to Frodo. When trouble came, Frodo didn't say, "It's not fair. It's not my problem. What am I supposed to do about it?" He said, "I will do what I can." Sam assumed he was without talent and just went along to assist Master Baggins in any small way possible. These small ways end up saving everything.

When the hobbits return to the shire is when they are able to shine on their own in their own homeland. Merry and Pippin have grown in stature both figuratively and literally. The water the Ents gave them to drink allowed them to grow, but that growth is representative of how they have grown up and become leaders on their own. Frodo is now the ultimate pacifist after witnessing too much violence for a life-time. And Sam just wants to settle down and have a family and be a gardener. It always takes me forever to get through the last 100 pages or so of the book because after all of the main battles, it feels like the story has already ended. But the story of the hobbits has not ended until those last 100 pages have been read. And The Lord of the Rings is really the story of four hobbits who ended up immersed in an adventure and battle much bigger than they are who held their own anyway.