Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 18
Comment on the “infenestration” of Sam Gamgee:
Comment on the “infenestration” of Sam Gamgee:
- Why does Gandalf suddenly decide to send Sam along with Frodo?
- We as readers seem to know more about Sam than Gandalf does, including his hidden depths.
- Therefore, sending Sam off with Frodo makes more sense to us than it would to Gandalf.
- Gandalf clearly knows Sam well enough, as he addresses him by name.
- Gandalf has seemingly observed Sam in and around Bag End, and would know something about his personality, including his loyalty to the Bagginses and his interest in Bilbo’s stories.
- This is parallel to Gandalf’s observations of Bilbo as a child, years before The Hobbit.
- There’s no evidence that Gandalf had preplanned sending Sam with Frodo. This seems to be a spontaneous act.
- There is a parallel to Gildor’s understanding that there was more than chance in their meeting, though not how to interpret it. Gandalf may be operating under similar assumptions.
- Gandalf takes an interpretive step that Gildor does not. He thinks he understands what this coincidence means in the bigger picture.
- We also find out later that he is not there by chance, but rather was sent there to spy.
- There is also the factor of Sam knowing about the Ring now, which means that he knows too much to be left behind, which is the reason Gandalf gives for sending Sam.
- Gandalf probably doesn’t actually believe that, knowing that this is not a punishment.
- Gandalf is also following his heart and his inner knowing beyond his physical senses.
- Gandalf sizes Sam up and realizes that he’s the best person for the job, and the show of threats is to impress on Sam the seriousness of the business.
- Gildor is not saying that the Shire used to belong to the Hobbits, and no longer does, though that does turn out to be true as the hobbits travel.
- Gildor is saying that the idea that the Shire belongs to them is the Hobbits fooling themselves.
- The Shire is objectively safe and comfortable, but this might no longer be so, and the Hobbits need to look outside the Shire to see what is coming.
- There is a mistaken sense of ownership among the Hobbits. The Shire does not belong to the Hobbits in the way that they believe that it does.
- Note: There is a parallel between St. Augustine’s confession of stealing pears with Frodo and other stealing Farmer Maggot’s mushrooms.
- Sam will refer to the aptness of the Hobbits living in the Shire in comparison to the Elves belonging in Lothlorien later.
- The Elves do not feel that they need permission from the Hobbits to cross the Shire.
- There is also the sense that the Hobbit’s true home is elsewhere.
- Gildor is also talking about Hobbits in general, but also about Frodo personally.
- We have seen that Frodo is guilty of the same parochialism he criticizes in the other Hobbit.
- Does Farmer Maggot’s relationship make him a less than typical hobbit?
- Farmer Maggot is an extraordinary hobbit, as will be acknowledged by Bombadil himself.
- What is mainstream about Farmer Maggot is his lifestyle, which is very typical of Hobbits.
- Frodo and Bilbo and their companions’ lifestyles are very countercultural for Hobbits generally.
- This is an act showing that he has forgiven Frodo for his actions as a youngster.
- It also shows that he is in fact the opposite of the ogre Frodo thought he was.
- This is an act of grace, and the mushrooms is a physical sign of that grace.
- There is a bit of an inside joke between Frodo and Maggot.
- The title “A Shortcut To Mushrooms” seems to refer to the path the hobbits took to Maggot’s farm, but in the end, it was to this gift of mushrooms, representing Maggot’s generosity.
- Ironically, Frodo has taken the long way around to Maggot’s friendship.
- Maggot adopts the same joking tone as Merry once he understands who it is.
- Maggot understates the reason for his wife’s “worriting”, stating that it is the fog, rather than the Black Riders. He also understates the strangeness of the day.
- Maggot clearly understands the dangers, though he understates that as well.
- Frodo feels very exposed as they are out on the causeway.
- The area leading to the ferry landing is much more orderly and less scary than the areas they have crossed through recently. This reminds us that we are still in the Shire.
- The whiteness of the landmarks, such as the stones and the bollards in the water, is the opposite of the sense of vulnerability and exposure that they have been feeling.
- The fog is also receding as they get closer to Buckland. This fog may or may not be natural, but it does give an unnatural feeling to the scene.
- Brandy Hall is a bastion of hobbit civilization, and no fog reaches it.
- There is a possible pun between “ferry lane” and “fairy lane”, but this may be an inversion. They have left the faerie-like experiences behind and are not traveling towards hobbit normalcy.
- Merry is unhurried in his crossing of the river, which shows a lack of concern. This is routine.