As we enter the meat of the chapter, Sam believes that Frodo has been killed by
Shelob, and now he's alone and must figure out what to do. He does this
by having a huge debate within himself (though he speaks aloud so that we
readers can hear, too).
Before we begin, though, I want to share some text:
When at last the blackness passed, Sam looked up and the shadows were about
him; but for how many minutes or hours the world had gone dragging on he could
not tell. He was still in the same place, and still his master lay beside
him dead. The mountains had not crumbled nor the earth fallen into
ruin.
1. While this passage could be read as silly, or even ironic, I was
moved at how surprised Sam was that life went on, that though his world
had just come crashing down, the physical world continued. How did this
passage affect you? I don't know if this is appropriate, but if you think
it is, can you think of a time when this type of thing happened to you?
Sam goes back and forth, muttering "What shall I do, what shall I do?" and then
he remembers his words to Frodo, recounting his experience with the
elves. Frodo asks Sam if he still wants to come on the journey, given
that he's already seen the elves, his life's ambition. Here's what Sam
recalled:
"I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I
can’t turn back. It isn’t to see the Elves now, nor dragons, nor
mountains, that I want—I don't rightly know what I want: but I have
something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I
must see it through, sir, if you understand me."
2. I've always thought that Sam's true transformation—his coming of
age, so to speak—began in the chapter we're discussing, yet now I'm reminded
that he actually grew up a bit before this, after speaking to the Elves and
beginning to realize the seriousness of the undertaking. When did Sam’s
journey toward…adulthood? Becoming a whole hobbit? Becoming
"global" vs. "local" in his thinking? Begin? And now that I've had
trouble describing it, what is it Sam learns—how is he changed?
Even before he decides to take on the ring, he "composed his body" then began
to take on Frodo's things: his sword and his phial, making sure the "dead"
Frodo understood he was only doing this because he had to.
3. By taking on Frodo's things, is Sam taking on a bit of Frodo?
Or is it taking on the Elves, since these were wrought by them and have special
powers associated w/ the Elves? Or both/neither?
4. Sam speaks aloud to Frodo the whole time, even asking him questions
("Do you understand, Mr. Frodo? I've got to go on." Earlier,
as he compares his options, he says "Or go on….Go on? Is that what I've got to
do? And leave him?") Who is Sam talking to? Why is he
speaking out loud in a place where silence is
safer?
Not all those who wander are lost.
