Are we still underestimating Sam?

I'm a couple episodes behind, so forgive me for dragging you back, but I was listening to episode 20 today and I am unsatisfied with the reasoning put forth to suggest that the conspiracy was formed by Merry, Pippin and the others while Sam was brought in later. I doubt he was the one who decided to call it a conspiracy (that wreaks of Pippin), but I have no doubt that it was Sam's initiative almost exclusively which led to its creation.

Consider this quote from Chapter 2:
(1)"So it went on, until his forties were running out, and his fiftieth birthday was drawing near. [...] He took to wandering further afield and more often by himself; and Merry and his other friends watched him anxiously".

And this quote from Chapter 5: (2)"I kept my knowledge [About Bilbo's ring & book] to myself, till this Spring when things got serious. Then we formed our conspiracy".

My reading of these quotes is that Merry in particular was concerned, partly because of his additional knowledge, for a time before the conspiracy was formed and discussed that concern (though not the additional knowledge) with his friends. I suspect Sam was present for some of these conversations (even if a mostly silent partner) despite their class differences. There's something in Pippin's teasing of Sam later which makes he think he had been a frequent presence around Merry and Pippin, even if he was never an equal.

Regardless of this concern, I do not believe that Gandalf's return in-and-of-itself would have been enough to prompt the creation of the conspiracy. You make the argument that their youth means that they barely remember Gandalf's last visit, and so it's a momentous event (after 9 years) which is enough to justify the conspiracy. But that reasoning doesn't pan out for me. Merry was the one Frodo left in charge of Bag End as it was being looted immediately following Bilbo's departure. He wasn't that young even then. He must remember all of Gandalf's visits since. This is a big secret which Merry's kept for a lot of years, it seems unlikely that Gandalf showing up one more time would prompt him to spill it.

Enter Sam.

Take a look at these quotes from chapter two (it's important to note that I've presented them in the order they appear in the book, I'll discuss this later):

First, as the argument between Sam and Sandyman is set up, it's described as (3) "The conversation in The Green Dragon at Bywater, one evening in the spring of Frodo’s fiftieth year".

The argument then begins with:
(4)"‘Queer things you do hear these days, to be sure,’ said Sam.

‘Ah,’ said Ted, ‘you do, if you listen. But I can hear fireside-tales and children’s stories at home, if I want to.’"

We then have the argument itself, followed by the passage you like (5)"Sam sat silent and said no more. He had a good deal to think about. For one thing, there was a lot to do up in the Bag End garden, and he would have a busy day tomorrow, if the weather cleared. The grass was growing fast. But Sam had more on his mind than gardening. After a while he sighed, and got up and went out."

(6)"It was early April and the sky was now clearing after heavy rain. The sun was down, and a cool pale evening was quietly fading into night. He walked home under the early stars through Hobbiton and up the Hill, whistling softly and thoughtfully.

It was just at this time that Gandalf reappeared after his long absence."

We're then told that (7)"It was over nine years since Frodo had seen or heard of him" and that it was (8)"that evening, as Sam was walking home and twilight was fading, there came the once familiar tap on the study window".

As I said, this is the order these quotes appear in the book, but it's equally clear that they are not chronological. "Twilight", "Evening" and "Night" all have very specific meanings and follow one another in that order.

Sam and Sandyman's argument clearly happens during the evening (quote 3). And he clearly leaves the Green Dragon as "evening was quietly fading to night" (quote 6). But Gandalf's tap on Frodo's window comes before this, as "twilight was fading". Evening begins just after twilight ends, so this is the earliest possible part of evening. Therefore Sam can't have already been to the Green Dragon if that also happened this same evening. Gandalf knocking on Frodo's window is the first of these things chronologically.

But this begs the question, where is Sam walking home from in quote 8, if not the Green Dragon? Why, Mr. Frodo's gardens of course! I'm sure the Gaffer has a saying about working until the light is done, and that's exactly what the description "twilight was fading" (quote 8) means.

Sam is just leaving the Bag End gardens at the end of a day when he sees Gandalf tap on Frodo's window. He stops to listen, perhaps because he's been involved in discussions with Mary and Pippin expressing concern for Frodo -- but certainly not because of a conspiracy. It can't be because of a conspiracy because the conspiracy was only formed in "early spring" (quote 2) and this is taking place in "early April" (quote 6) and there's nothing which could have prompted the creation of a conspiracy before this moment in early April because Gandalf has literally just arrived.

Perhaps Merry and Pippin saw Gandalf travelling through the Shire and grew concerned (I'll come back to this in a moment). But could they have seen Gandalf, and arrived at Hobbiton far enough ahead of him to come speak with Sam during the day while he was working at Bag End (presumably Gandalf's destination) and recruit him? Certainly not.

After listening to Gandalf and Frodo's night-time conversation, Sam heads down to the Green Dragon and who should he find but Merry and Pippin! Perhaps they were there by chance (if chance you call it) but I like to think that they did indeed see Gandalf riding through the Shire and came after him in the hopes of an adventure.

Then Sam tells them what he overheard. This is why I think Sam was already part of Merry and Pippin's counsels. I don't think he'd share Frodo's secrets with them otherwise. But I also picture a scene in which Sam makes it clear he's heard something disturbing but is reluctant to share it. Merry and Pippin have to wheedle it out of him, flattering him and deciding that he is their "chief investigator" -- a title which embarrasses him but pleases him all the same (Remember how grandiosely Merry introduces him? "‘Step forward, Sam!’said Merry;" (chapter 5), and how embarrassed Sam was? "Sam stood up with a face scarlet up to the ears" (chapter 5)). This wheedling may even be where the idea of creating a "conspiracy" comes from. To guarantee Sam's shared secrets will be kept secret.

Likewise, I think this is why Merry feels he must share what he knows about the ring -- because Sam's already mentioned it. This right here, however, is the moment in the "Spring, when things got serious" (quote 2). It wasn't a conspiracy which already existed and Sam was invited into, the conspiracy started because of the information he collected on his own initiative.

There's even some textual evidence that this conversation took place that night in the Green Dragon. Pippin will later say "I am still little more than a boy in the reckoning of my own people" (Book V, Chapter 1) and Sandyman refers to "children's stories" (Quote 4) as he begins to argue with Sam. This isn't ironclad, but my interpretation is that Sandyman overheard Sam, Merry and Pippin's discussion and butted in dismissively. By pointing out they're children, he's dismissing what he's hearing.

I know I'm making some suppositions here, but I think the core of this reading is well supported by the text. Sam listened to Frodo and Gandalf's first conversation before going to the Green Dragon. Sam must have met Merry and Pippin (and Freddy?) there because there was no other time when he could have shared the information with them. This must also be when the conspiracy formed because it lines up with the timing described in the text, it makes no sense for it to have before Gandalf's arrival, and there was no time after this when it could have formed before Sam was caught.

The conspiracy was not something started by Merry and Pippin which Sam was invited into. It was started because of Sam, and the initiative he took. Sam deserves more credit than you gave him.
 
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This is a nice piece of analysis. I especially like how you reconstruct the chronology based on the words 'twilight' etc. I have always read the text as proceeding in chronological order, i.e. 'Sam walks home from the Green Dragon deep in thought after having had a conversation with Ted Sandyman'.

I will have to read the book again, even more slow and carefully than the previous time.

/Reher
 
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