Who’s Sam Gamgee?

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Sam Gamgee is a hobbit and the faithful servant of Frodo Baggins in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In hobbit society, Sam or Samwise (his full name) is of a different class from Frodo, a gardener and part of a working or domestic class. Although Frodo and Sam are friends at the start of the book, and both Bilbo and Frodo tend to disregard class distinctions, as Tolkien’s novel(s) progresses, Sam is not just a servant but a valuable and best friend of Frodo, and ultimately has almost as much to do with the destruction of the evil Lord Sauron’s power ring as Frodo.

Many readers consider Sam Gamgee to be one of the most endearing characters in The Lord of the Rings. Though he is a worker, he is attracted to the high things of Middle-earth, and sometimes secretly composes some poetry and dreams of elves and their magical and mystical qualities, and tales of the past. He also loves the beauty of simple things, like pretty flowers in a meadow, and he’s more grounded in earth and worldly things than Frodo. He is, for example, in love with Rosie Cotton, even though he leaves her to go with Frodo first to Rivendell and then to Mordor to destroy the enemy’s ring.

Some even argue that Sam Gamgee is the central character and emotional anchor of The Lord of the Rings. A psychological reading of the book might suggest that Frodo and Gollum represent Sam’s worst and best qualities (id and superego). Like Frodo, Sam has a love of all things high and good, and a certain nobility; however, like Gollum, he has a suspicious nature at times and can be easily angered or frustrated.

Of the three combined, when Gollum agrees to lead the hobbits to Mordor, it is Sam who is ultimately able to survive and thrive in Middle-earth following the ring’s destruction. Gollum dies and Frodo departs for the heavens, but Sam is left with his hairy feet planted firmly on the ground in the Shire, with a future mayoral career, and with children to raise who will learn to love both little beauties as bountiful gardens, and also be aware of the much larger Middle-earth and the father’s role in saving it.

A reader can also observe the dominant factor in Sam Gamgee’s life: his strong and enduring love for his companions, especially Frodo. He is also a bearer of the ring for a very short time and, like Bilbo, voluntarily returns the ring to Frodo when he saves him from torture in Mordor. Sam also gets the ring on Mount Doom, since Frodo is fading and has to be carried part of the way, so it can be interpreted as essential in the quest to destroy evil.

Sam can also be seen as the restorer of the Shire, more strongly than any other character. He returns home to a nearly ruined Shire, and with Galadriel’s gift is able to restore beauty and renew growth. His character develops significantly in Tolkien’s book and he returns to the Shire with a full knowledge of the greatness and goodness that exists outside it, but also retains his love of peace within it and how important it is . In his journey with Frodo, Sam Gamgee clearly misses the Shire, but his suffering and experience of his world do not taint him for his return to the Shire, but extend his many character attributes by adding wisdom.
Sam’s story is also common in some respects: the theme of the servant rewarded for loyalty with eventual riches and an elevation above his position. This rise affects Sam in the slightest except to make him more generous, more loving, and more willing to serve the people of the homeland than he is. Also, in a parallel story to Aragorn’s, he gets the girl. Sam Gamgee returns home to Rosie Cotton and a happy marriage to her. His and Aragorn’s marriages are the only two he addresses in much detail in the book (although Eowyn’s marriage to Faramir is mentioned quite a bit).

If you’re a fan of the books, it’s hard not to love Sam Gamgee. He is given some of the funniest and most touching speeches in Tolkien’s masterpiece. It is his words that conclude the novel as he returns home from the Gray Havens after saying goodbye to his master. “Well, I’m back,” Sam says as he holds one of his children in his arms.

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