![]() ![]() Good point about the inverse relationship between Frodo’s strength and Sam’s I hadn’t thought of it that way before! I wasn’t sure about the whole child/parent relationship initially, but the way you lay it out, it really does fit Sam and Frodo’s relationship, especially when mapped onto the child/parent relationship over the lifetime of the child. Perhaps it is appropriate that Frodo’s transition into tainted weakness-constantly fueled by the Ring and its destructive influence-defies the aging process to which we are accustomed. Upon further reflection, I realize that it does not necessarily need to be one or the other. But at the same time, the Ring has clearly disrupted Frodo’s “growth” in a devastating way. With Frodo as the master, the officer, it seemed to me that both were progressing forwards: Frodo towards death, (completely skipping over his prime,) and Sam into complete maturity. I was initially confused about whether you were suggesting a complete role-reversal, portraying Frodo as the child as Sam matures. ![]() Frodo’s deteriorating condition, physically and mentally, reflects a strange kind of simultaneous aging and regression-both of which must result in Sam, the “Child” maturing and taking over. While Gollum and Bilbo were almost suspended in time thanks to the Ring, it became debilitating when closer to its original Master and seemed at times to sap the life from Frodo as he fought to maintain control. The question about the Ring as an agent in this (very well-chronicled) transition between Child- and Parenthood is especially interesting when one considers what the Ring has done to its various "owners." Even as Gollum and Bilbo were granted extraordinary physical longevity, it was obviously not without cost. It becomes clear that only when Frodo falters can Sam truly come into his own. Simultaneously Sam, child-like, grows and matures into an Adult as (and perhaps because) Frodo slips away. Frodo, in the role as Parent, initially directs the Quest, but as he grows burdened with the Ring, needs Sam, as the Child, to help him and to carry on his fight if he falls. Initially, in a Parent/Child relationship, the Parent takes control and directs both their paths, but as both mature, the Parent falls back into the second-childhood of old age and it’s up to the Child to carry their combined burdens. In fact, comparing their parallel journeys in this way leads me rather to compare the hobbits’ relationship instead to that of a Parent and Child. We said in class that the relationship between Sam and Frodo was much like a batman and his officer in WWI. When Sam is childish, Frodo is mature and capable when Frodo grows physically and emotionally weak, Sam is the strong one who helps him see the Quest through. This physical aspect accentuates the spiritual bond between the two hobbits, such that in a way, it seems as if the two of them are linked in a strange, inverse relationship of power.
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