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A Tolkien Virgin: The Return of the King - Book VI - Chapter 8 - The Journey Continues
December 15, 2002
Submitted By Jonathan
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Book VI
Chapter 8
The Scouring of the Shire
"I did not," said Frodo. "But I might have guessed. A little mischif in a mean way: Gandalf warned me that you were still capable of it."So they finally come to the Shire and sure enough there's a gate in their way. Things have taken a turn for the worse in their absence. Lotho with his Big Men have taken over the Shire, abusing the hobitfolk, and setting up a bunch of new rules to keep them in line. As Sam says, "no welcome, no beer, no smoke, and a lot of rules and orc-talk instead."
The next morning, a bunch of hobbits "arrest" Frodo and the others on their way to Hobbiton. But our four heros laugh them off and go on their way with the sherrifs tagging along. Eventually though, the sherrifs couldn't keep up and the four heros went along, breaking arrest as they went.
When they got to Bywater they found trees cut down, gardens untended, old homes burnt down or missing and ugly new houses built. And a bunch of ruffians. When Pippin has enough of their insults, he draws his sword and demands an apology. Merry and Sam join him, but noteably Frodo doesn't. This is the first we see of Frodo's pacifistic tendancies. Are we supposed to sympathize with Frodo in this? I can't tell, but I don't. I'm with Merry when he says, "You won't rescue Lotho, or the Shire, just by being shocked and sad, my dear Frodo." In fact, it isn't Frodo or Sam who suggest raising the Shire as I may have suspected at the begining, but Merry. And it's Merry with his horn from Rohan that first stirs things up.
Sam dashes off to get Farmer Cotton. Of course he must've been wanting to see Rosie, too. And, it wasn't until Rosie pointed it out that I missed the fact that this was the first time Sam "abandoned" Frodo since their adventure began.
Although at first Cotton talks to Frodo as if he is in charge, when it seems that fighting will be inevitable, Merry comes up with a plan and Frodo leaves him to it. After the first encounter, Cotton says, "You came back in the nick of time, Mr. Merry."
Worried for his gaffer, Sam goes off after him, meeting up with Frodo and Merry at Cotton's farm later. With the hints at romance between Sam and Rosie, I think it goes without saying that they'll end up married. I like that. Frodo and Bilbo on the other hand are bachelors to the end. That's kinda sad, wouldn't you say? To live all those years alone?
The next day, Pippin returns with hobbits from Tookland, and the Battle of Bywater takes place. The ruffians are routed, a number of hobbits killed. And then Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin head off to settle up with Lotho and Sharkey. All along the way they're met with more destruction and ruination, and the Party tree cut down at Bag End. Sam has words with Sandyman, but when they go inside to look for Lotho, he can't be found. We find out later that he's already been killed.
The showdown. I feel a little bit foolish for it, but I had no idea, no suspicion, that Sharkey was Saruman! Earlier when the ruffian leader expressed no worry over Saruman at Frodo's news, I suppose I just thought that these ruffians and their leader Sharkey were sent here by Saruman a good long while ago and with Saruman no longer around they would just keep on enjoying the good life in the Shire at the hobbits expense. Somehow I hadn't put two and two together that Sharkey had come recently to the Shire and Lotho hadn't been seen for a couple weeks etc.
Well, predictably, Frodo won't let Saruman be killed, even after Saruman attempts to knife Frodo on his way out. Although Frodo's pacifistic tendancies are somewhat irritating to me, I found it right that he should hope for Saruman's cure, or redemption, rather than meet revenge with revenge. Frodo's attitude here strikes me as significantly Christian, and at this point, I tend to agree with him. Perfaps not because it is such a Christian attitude, but perhaps because it seems a greater cruelty to let Saruman wallow in the misery of his fall than to grant him peace in death. But, I don't know, because I had a conflicting feeling a moment later when Wormtongue snaps and kills Saruman (and is then killed, himself). Saruman's spirit, or whatever that mist was, looks away West only to be blown away by a cold wind coming from the West. That short scene speaks volumes. How incredibly sad. I should feel like Saruman got his just deserts, but I'm struck by the finality of the image, the rejection of Saruman by the Valar he betrayed. Could his look toward the West indicate some sense of regret, some kind of admission of wrong-doing, a realization of the depth of his sin, his fall? It's satisfyingly not spelled out for us.
Understandably, it may seem to the hobbits that that was the very last stroke of the war, there on Bag End's doorstep. But I'd take Sam's closing comment a step further and say that I don't think there will ever be an end to the war since the evil of Sauron and Saruman, and before them Melkor, will go on without them.
But, in the end, I have to wonder: where the heck is Fatty?? The other conspirators are back in the Shire, they're cleaning things up, setting things right, why couldn't we have Fatty Bolger show up and play a bigger part?
till next time, keep thinking,
Mark-Edmond Howell
Kanazawa, Japan
far(out
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... 24 Comments
If i recall correctly back to when Mark was reading The Silmarillion, he did not in fact read the last section, about the third age, since clearly that would be a big spoiler for The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.
At the time I think we were told that he would read that section after finished LotR. Can anyone confirm that this is still the case? Should we expect to see his review of that section sometime in the next few months?
Comment by donOntario - December 15, 2002 @ 9:38 PM
If i recall correctly back to when Mark was reading The Silmarillion, he did not in fact read the last section, about the third age, since clearly that would be a big spoiler for The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.
At the time I think we were told that he would read that section after finished LotR. Can anyone confirm that this is still the case? Should we expect to see his review of that section sometime in the next few months?
Comment by donOntario - December 15, 2002 @ 9:38 PM
I completely forgot about the Saruman-looking-West thing - a very nice detail that I passed over when I was younger, but that was so much more powerful in subsequent readings...
I also have to confess that the Christian symbolism throughout all Tolkien's stuff, intentional or unintentional, just brings me to tears in it's beauty...
Comment by GrimWinnebago - December 15, 2002 @ 10:04 PM
I completely forgot about the Saruman-looking-West thing - a very nice detail that I passed over when I was younger, but that was so much more powerful in subsequent readings...
I also have to confess that the Christian symbolism throughout all Tolkien's stuff, intentional or unintentional, just brings me to tears in it's beauty...
Comment by GrimWinnebago - December 15, 2002 @ 10:04 PM
We've already read the book. Why is he repeating it? Not his best "review". And was so looking forward to this one too.
Comment by freakyfan - December 16, 2002 @ 1:42 PM
We've already read the book. Why is he repeating it? Not his best "review". And was so looking forward to this one too.
Comment by freakyfan - December 16, 2002 @ 1:42 PM
I come back early in next chapter, and you'll know what happened to me
Frodo vs Saruman: he has seen total suffering, total annihilation, he himself failed and suffer because of that and the grasp the Ring has on him as much as because of his physical wounds. He knows what it is like to fail. And here he applies Gandalf's words: "Many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life"
Comment by Fatty_Bolger - December 16, 2002 @ 2:17 PM
I come back early in next chapter, and you'll know what happened to me
Frodo vs Saruman: he has seen total suffering, total annihilation, he himself failed and suffer because of that and the grasp the Ring has on him as much as because of his physical wounds. He knows what it is like to fail. And here he applies Gandalf's words: "Many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life"
Comment by Fatty_Bolger - December 16, 2002 @ 2:17 PM
I liked reading this 'review' because I got the impression that Mark was so impressed by the chapter and the events contained therein that he just had to excitedly tell us about it. And there was some real review stuff, like when he talks about how Merry and Pippin have changed, etc.
Comment by donOntario - December 16, 2002 @ 4:26 PM
I liked reading this 'review' because I got the impression that Mark was so impressed by the chapter and the events contained therein that he just had to excitedly tell us about it. And there was some real review stuff, like when he talks about how Merry and Pippin have changed, etc.
Comment by donOntario - December 16, 2002 @ 4:26 PM
This review did make me realize some new things, such as the Christian view, and Tolkien was a Christian. Then Sam leaving Frodo for the first time. I think there was too much repetition of the story. I don't blame Frodo for beign a pacifist though it didn't seem to work. However, it was still worth a try.
Comment by fishy071 - December 16, 2002 @ 8:00 PM
This review did make me realize some new things, such as the Christian view, and Tolkien was a Christian. Then Sam leaving Frodo for the first time. I think there was too much repetition of the story. I don't blame Frodo for beign a pacifist though it didn't seem to work. However, it was still worth a try.
Comment by fishy071 - December 16, 2002 @ 8:00 PM
I am glad the review was posted today since it was just last night I was reading the drafts of this chapter in HoME IX. Most notably Frodo's pacifism was not present; he takes Merry's role thruout and even slays Sharkey (a ruffian leader not yet Saruman) in single combat at the doorstep of Bag End. I think Frodo's final role is truer to his character and reflects the PTSD (or whatever you want to call it) he acquired on his journey.
As for Fatty it seems that he slipped Tolkien's mind when he first worked on the end of the book. But a suitably heroic fate was devised for him and will be revealed in the last chapter.
Returning to Frodo, Merry's statement quoted by Mark-Edmond seems to me to agree with the general ethos of the book. Frodo's non-violent ways do serve however as a necessary counter weight to the vengeful tendencies of some hobbits. As do all good authors, I think, Tolkien manages to present the position as it really is, with pros and cons, rather than simply satirazing it.
Comment by Eluchil - December 17, 2002 @ 11:41 AM
I am glad the review was posted today since it was just last night I was reading the drafts of this chapter in HoME IX. Most notably Frodo's pacifism was not present; he takes Merry's role thruout and even slays Sharkey (a ruffian leader not yet Saruman) in single combat at the doorstep of Bag End. I think Frodo's final role is truer to his character and reflects the PTSD (or whatever you want to call it) he acquired on his journey.
As for Fatty it seems that he slipped Tolkien's mind when he first worked on the end of the book. But a suitably heroic fate was devised for him and will be revealed in the last chapter.
Returning to Frodo, Merry's statement quoted by Mark-Edmond seems to me to agree with the general ethos of the book. Frodo's non-violent ways do serve however as a necessary counter weight to the vengeful tendencies of some hobbits. As do all good authors, I think, Tolkien manages to present the position as it really is, with pros and cons, rather than simply satirazing it.
Comment by Eluchil - December 17, 2002 @ 11:41 AM
Didn't Frodo say that if they killed Sharkey Saruman the Shire would be poisoned? I worried when Grima done him in but the cloud of toxic waste was last seen blowing toward Mordor, and I hope it stayed aloft til then.
Comment by Ninanina - December 17, 2002 @ 1:28 PM
Didn't Frodo say that if they killed Sharkey Saruman the Shire would be poisoned? I worried when Grima done him in but the cloud of toxic waste was last seen blowing toward Mordor, and I hope it stayed aloft til then.
Comment by Ninanina - December 17, 2002 @ 1:28 PM
I think that one of the underlying causes of Frodo's pacifism is not just PTSD as a result of his Quest. But that as an act of will he "failed" in the quest But he was saved by his mercy to Gollum.
He is seeing the world through more spiritual and less materialistic eyes. The proverb "We learn more from our enemies than we do our friends" is probably appropriate.
Like Gandalf (and the Valar) he is now trying to influence events by influencing the players rather than my taking a direct hand.
He will have to go to the Haven's not only because be has endured too much pain to be content in mortal lands any longer. He has also grown too much to remain in mortal lands.
I was raised a RC and I would say that there is an underlying belief that the experience of pain and spiritual growth are inseparable. One not only produces the other, but you cannot have one without the other.
Comment by FlamerOfUdun - December 17, 2002 @ 9:35 PM
I think that one of the underlying causes of Frodo's pacifism is not just PTSD as a result of his Quest. But that as an act of will he "failed" in the quest But he was saved by his mercy to Gollum.
He is seeing the world through more spiritual and less materialistic eyes. The proverb "We learn more from our enemies than we do our friends" is probably appropriate.
Like Gandalf (and the Valar) he is now trying to influence events by influencing the players rather than my taking a direct hand.
He will have to go to the Haven's not only because be has endured too much pain to be content in mortal lands any longer. He has also grown too much to remain in mortal lands.
I was raised a RC and I would say that there is an underlying belief that the experience of pain and spiritual growth are inseparable. One not only produces the other, but you cannot have one without the other.
Comment by FlamerOfUdun - December 17, 2002 @ 9:35 PM
First off I would like to say that I mean not to degrade your opinion or you religious values, but Tolkiens books I doubt were written with religious intent. It is true that Frodo was a pascifist and shows it throughout the books, ie Gollum as previously stated. But I think it just shows human, or hobbit in this case, morals and sense of justice, It was advised of him not to judge others mortallity by Gandalf and he heeded it the first time so why not again. And I think it was good of Frodo to try and let him go and wallow about what he has done and the crimes he has committed to all of Middle-Earth. As for his spirit or whatever. His look to the west would be a longing for paradise and life which he did not and cannot have. He was cursed by his doings in life and is it not true in Christianity that those who are cruel in life go to hell? wouldn't that be and equivilant if you want to place a religious perspective on it. But yes, I think he should be rejected by the Valar and entry in the Undying Lands for he almost caused the destruction of all middle-earth for crying out loud! that is all but you have your opinion. Plus i think you shouldn't have posted this in news. Maybe a forum but it is not new worthy
Comment by Uruloke - December 18, 2002 @ 9:11 PM
First off I would like to say that I mean not to degrade your opinion or you religious values, but Tolkiens books I doubt were written with religious intent. It is true that Frodo was a pascifist and shows it throughout the books, ie Gollum as previously stated. But I think it just shows human, or hobbit in this case, morals and sense of justice, It was advised of him not to judge others mortallity by Gandalf and he heeded it the first time so why not again. And I think it was good of Frodo to try and let him go and wallow about what he has done and the crimes he has committed to all of Middle-Earth. As for his spirit or whatever. His look to the west would be a longing for paradise and life which he did not and cannot have. He was cursed by his doings in life and is it not true in Christianity that those who are cruel in life go to hell? wouldn't that be and equivilant if you want to place a religious perspective on it. But yes, I think he should be rejected by the Valar and entry in the Undying Lands for he almost caused the destruction of all middle-earth for crying out loud! that is all but you have your opinion. Plus i think you shouldn't have posted this in news. Maybe a forum but it is not new worthy
Comment by Uruloke - December 18, 2002 @ 9:11 PM
Frodo did not attempt to spare Saruman's life in order to punish him further. And it was only partly because of the lesson from Gandalf; the "some that live deserve death" speech. Frodo wanted to spare Saruman's life because he recognized that Saruman was a being that the hobbits really had no authority to judge or pass sentence against. Saruman's subsequent realization of how wise and great Frodo has become is one of my favorite moments in the book. He realizes that Frodo has become greater than he himself. And I do agree that that was quite a punishment for Saruman. I just disagree that it was a motive for Frodo.
Comment by FraKcture - December 20, 2002 @ 7:48 AM
Frodo did not attempt to spare Saruman's life in order to punish him further. And it was only partly because of the lesson from Gandalf; the "some that live deserve death" speech. Frodo wanted to spare Saruman's life because he recognized that Saruman was a being that the hobbits really had no authority to judge or pass sentence against. Saruman's subsequent realization of how wise and great Frodo has become is one of my favorite moments in the book. He realizes that Frodo has become greater than he himself. And I do agree that that was quite a punishment for Saruman. I just disagree that it was a motive for Frodo.
Comment by FraKcture - December 20, 2002 @ 7:48 AM
I'm looking for reader reaction. Ain't much here. I've read Tolkien, and don't need any summary. If I hadn't read Tolkien, why would I get a summary here?
Did enjoy the discussion, tho.
This monumental task, of reading LTR for the first time and commenting on it, is bound to wear on anyone. Kudos for the attempt.
Comment by naurghash - December 20, 2002 @ 12:59 PM
I'm looking for reader reaction. Ain't much here. I've read Tolkien, and don't need any summary. If I hadn't read Tolkien, why would I get a summary here?
Did enjoy the discussion, tho.
This monumental task, of reading LTR for the first time and commenting on it, is bound to wear on anyone. Kudos for the attempt.
Comment by naurghash - December 20, 2002 @ 12:59 PM