Is Sam kinda dim?

[Tessar]

i just finished the first book (it was a bit dificult but i did it!!!)

does it seeem to all of you that sam is kind.... well ...... sick? he is calling frodo "my master" like some kind of big ideot and fallows him like a dog!!! im not trying to be pravocative. pleas forgive me if i seem stuped for not digging deeper in to the soul of the book or whatever.

[ringbearer]

Originally posted by Tesseract12
i just finished the first book (it was a bit dificult but i did it!!!)

does it seeem to all of you that sam is kind.... well ...... sick? he is calling frodo "my master" like some kind of big ideot and fallows him like a dog!!! im not trying to be pravocative. pleas forgive me if i seem stuped for not digging deeper in to the soul of the book or whatever.

Dim? No...just alot of plain old "Hobbit sense"!

P.S....do you have a spellchecker?!...no offense intended

[Sister Golden Hair]

Sam calls Frodo master, because he is his servent. His gardener to be precise. Sam has a very special loyalty to Frodo, and cares a great deal about him as a friend.

[Darth Tater]

Do not form an opinion about Sam till you've finished ROTK! Everyone seems to think he's a bit dim-witted at first, but, well, you'll see.

[Ñólendil]

Actually I think he remained a bit dim-witted. Simple would be a better word, though -- or rustic.

[Tessar]

oh ok. and yse bi doo heve spall-chek im sorry about that. part of its that i try to type to fast and the other........ well you get the idea from now on ill try to do it in word, spell cheak, copy, paste.

[Ñólendil]

If your Write Mail screen has a spell check, you can use that too. That's what I do, I sometimes type it out first in Write Mail, spell check it, cut and paste it here.

[Banazir]

Originally posted by Inoldonil
Actually I think he remained a bit dim-witted. Simple would be a better word, though -- or rustic.

Stupid would be a better word... That's what he was, that's what he remained. Sorry, couldn't help it- I really dislike Sam.

[Ñólendil]

Then why on earth did you name yourself after him?! What, did you lose a bet or something?

[ringbearer]

Originally posted by Banazir


Stupid would be a better word... That's what he was, that's what he remained. Sorry, couldn't help it- I really dislike Sam.

Why? Sam wore his heart on his sleeve, and he cried alot...big deal! It does not make him "stupid"!

[Renille]

How could Sam POSSIBLY be stupid!? He had a very tender heart and a lot of good sense. He's one of those characters you don't think is that smart or brave, but then change your mind about later on.

[Banazir]

Originally posted by Inoldonil
Then why on earth did you name yourself after him?! What, did you lose a bet or something?

Hee-hee, I knew someone would ask this question. And I knew that my post will infuriate a lot of people. Well, I named myself that because I love the name. I don't have to love the character as well. And I don't think that Sam was stupid because he was too emotional, but rather because he didn't see the obvious things in life, like Gollum's repentence or the fact his master was so traumatized after the war. That doesn't suggest a smart person.
However, my opinions are just opinions, nothing more, and every board I go to, I always draw negative responses because of them.
Oh, well...

[arynetrek]

Gollum's repentance?

you mean when he joined the hobbits outside of Mordor just so he could steal back His Precious?

and when he found he couldn't do that easily, he lured them to Shelob's Lair?

or when DOES steal back His Precious, along with Frodo's finger, and merely by a twist of fate (or Eru's will...?) he falls into the Crack of Doom to destroy it?

OK, enough sarcasm. sorry. are you talking about the brief scene where he gets the chance to slay the hobbits but doesn't? that's the only "gollum is maybe, almost, not completely twisted" scene i can think of right now.

aryne *

[Kirinki54]

Originally posted by Banazir


And I don't think that Sam was stupid because he was too emotional, but rather because he didn't see the obvious things in life, like Gollum's repentence or the fact his master was so traumatized after the war. That doesn't suggest a smart person.

Maybe Sam had not read the book?

Seriously, Tolkien needed a character like Sam that did not immediately came across as smart, but anyway did the right things and did them very good. An emerging Hero that sees things differently and thus gives new dimensions to the story. He did not crawl for Frodo, and his loyalty was met with enormous trust. And the other two Hobbits (sometimes dimwitted if anyone) treated Sam with respect. Notice how he often gets the last word. Fools seldom do.

[Raven Moon]

Re-read the whole thing again, my dear. You will soon see (hopefully), that Sam Gamgee is quite probably the most important character in the story, after Gandalf

[Ñólendil]

Welcome Raven Moon!

I don't think Sam (of the Fellowship) accomplished more than Frodo. I think it would be Gandalf, then perhaps Aragorn & Frodo, then Sam Gamgee.

[Banazir]

Originally posted by Raven Moon
Re-read the whole thing again, my dear. You will soon see (hopefully), that Sam Gamgee is quite probably the most important character in the story, after Gandalf

Oh, my. I agree that Sam is nearly the most important character in the story, but how does that make him smart??

[Banazir]

Originally posted by arynetrek
Gollum's repentance?

OK, enough sarcasm. sorry. are you talking about the brief scene where he gets the chance to slay the hobbits but doesn't? that's the only "gollum is maybe, almost, not completely twisted" scene i can think of right now.

aryne *

I am talking about the brief, but meaningful scene on the stairs of Cirith-Ungol, where Gollum is clearly having second thoughts regarding his actions; and if it weren't for Sam's idiotic outburst, maybe there would have been no betrayal.

[ringbearer]

Sam was the first to react when the watcher in the water had Frodo, the men were kind of held by their shock. As I said earlier...Sam has good hobbit sense. I cannot think of any mistakes that Sam made (unlike Pippen and Merry-who made many)! Sam was a farmer/gardener...which takes alot of learning of itself! He was thrust into situations he was never trained for.
I bet he could grow a 'mean crop of 'taters!

[Ñólendil]

He was the only one to react when Frodo was caught by the Watcher. I'm glad you mentioned that, it was an act of courage and love that is very rarely mentioned in LR discussions.