In the farmer's kitchen

Gravidy

Member
No question here, just a thought. While this isn't a significant insight, it is one of the most relate-able (to tie it to another thread) little tidbits in the text we've covered so far, at least for me.

"They went into the farmer’s kitchen. ... After a few remarks about the weather and the agricultural prospects (which were no worse than usual), Farmer Maggot put down his mug and looked at them all in turn."​

I grew up in a very small and very rural area. I can absolutely confirm that every conversation that starts in a farmer's kitchen does indeed start with a discussion about the weather, closely followed by a discussion about the agricultural prospects. I don't think I can begin to describe how close-to-home this hits for me. Even today, every conversation with my mother still starts out with a discussion about the weather and farming (which, typically, still isn't getting any better).
 
I think it's easy to miss (unless you're spending 2 hours poring over every 3 pages lol) just how atypical and unusual Bilbo and Frodo (and even Pipping and Merry) are, relative to normal Hobbits. Maggot (and Cotton) are outstanding and seem so singular, but I think they are rather more typical that it would seem on casual reading.

Or, rather, there are more layers to the Shire class system than are immediately apparent. You've got your "nobility" in the Tooks and Brandybucks and your wealthy class of which the Bagginses are the prime example (but surely not the only ones) at one level, a lower level of businessman (Sandyman) or landowner (Maggot or Cotton) who are clearly a social step below, yet also clearly a social step above the next level, and then the lowest level of farm hands and hirees and labourers.
 
Pretty much anyone who's livelihood is spent working outdoors seems obsessed with the weather compared to those of us who don't work outdoors.

My brother drives a truck for a living (which is sort of an outdoor job I suppose) and he's always checking in on the weather forecasts.
 
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