The Lord of the Rings Discussion Project: Chapter 5 and Chapter 6

[Nurvingiel]

Great write-up JD. (Couldn't resist taking a couple digs at the movie eh? )

Chapter 5:

I agree that Chapter 5 is extremely important in solidifying the Hobbit's friendship. One aspect that I also feel is brought out in this chapter is how Merry, Frodo, and Pippin are friends with Sam on a different level. Your own quote outlines this perfectly for me.

“You do not understand!� Said Pippin. “You must go – and therefore we must, too. Merry and I are coming with you. Sam is an excellent fellow, and would jump down a dragon’s throat to save you, if he did not trip over his own feet; but you will need more than one companion in your dangerous adventure.�

Pippin refers to himself and Merry separately from Sam. This subtle difference indicates the class difference present in their friendship.
The nature of their friendship changes over the course of the book, but at this point, Frodo, Merry and Pippin are good friends. Sam is also a friend to all of them, but is also regarded as Frodo's servant since he's his gardener.
This is what Hobbit culture is like, and it's something we certainly have no concept of in today's Canadian society (I can't speak for anyone else's country). There's the gentlehobbits, who are like a class above regular Hobbits. Sam is a regular Hobbit, and Frodo, Merry and Pippin, who are all related, are the upper class - gentlehobbits. I believe it's the Gaffer who refers to Frodo as "a real gentlehobbit".
I'm not sure if this is necessarily a positive or negative aspect, but it's certainly an important factor. Would Sam's loyalty to Frodo have been as strong if he hadn't been his servant originally? By the time they reached Mount Doom, they were definitely great friends and equals. Even then, I don't feel the servant-master aspect of their relationship was entirely erased. (Insert apropriate quote here.) Pippin and Merry probably regarded him as an equal by the end, possibly before that.
In the Scouring of the Shire, Merry, Sam, and Pippin all distinguished themselves equally in battle, and Sam later went on to become Mayor of Hobbiton many times (11?).
All this is not to say that Merry, Pippin, and Frodo looked down on Sam. They were equals, but at the same time, of different classes. I don't understand the concept of class and therefore can't explain it, but I do believe it was an important factor in the friendship of the four Hobbits.

Chapter 6:

What you say about the Old Forest not adding to much to the characterization or the plot of the story is interesting. Compared to many other chapters in the book, there isn't a lot of character development. The Old Forest is an elaborate plot device. It serves to introduce Tom Bombadil (also a plot device), and to find a plausible explanation as to why the Nazgul totally lost their trail until Bree. The Old Forest let the Hobbits give the Black Riders the slip. It introduced Tom, without whom they obviously wouldn't have been able to get through the Barrow-Downs. Here is also where Merry receives the blade which helped kill the Nazgul Captain later. All of these are important devices to advancing the story, and Tolkien deliveres them in his typical fashion - exciting, subtle, and totally involving the reader.