Sam: Honoring our Commitments

Recently we've been drawing morals out of one or two sentences from the text.  In order to spice things up (for both your benefit and mine), we're going to look at things a little differently and take a closer look at the characters and certain crucial choices they make.  This week, we'll examine Sam.

This week's chapter is called "A Journey In The Dark."  Having been defeated by the mountain Caradrhas, the Fellowship now reconsiders it's options.  Boromir suggests they march south, following the path he took when he came to Rivendell.  Gandalf reminds him that Isengard is that way: "Things have changed since you came North, Boromir.  Did you not hear what I told you of Saruman?"  Going north to get around the mountain range is also dismissed - the journey would be too long.  They need to move with speed.  So, the company agrees to enter Moria, the mines underneath the Caradrhas.  They can cut through the Dwarven realm and re-emerge on the other side in a matter of days.

As they arrive at the Door into the mountain, Gandalf pulls Sam aside and tells him that Bill, their baggage pony, will not go with them into the mines.

'I am sorry, Sam,' said the wizard.  'But when the Door

opens I do not think you will be able to drag your Bill inside,

into the long dark of Moria.  You will

have to choose between Bill and your master.'

Sam protests, reminding Gandalf that they were just attacked by wolves and that leaving Bill on his own will get him killed, but Gandalf assures him Bill will get home in one piece.  He leans in to Bill and whispers some words to him.

Bill, seeming to understand well what was going on,

nuzzled up to him, putting his nose to Sam's ear. 

Sam burst into tears, and fumbled with the straps, unlading

all the pony's packs and throwing them on the ground.

Here is an interesting word - "unlading."  It  isn't supposed to be "unloading."  It isn't a typo.  To unladen is a nautical term which means "to unload a ship."  And while ships are inanimate objects, to those that ride them they take on a more personal note.  Just as those of us who drive develop a personal relationship with our car.  It is just a thing, but it is also much more than that.  There are feelings tied to it.  And how much more, for Sam, that Bill is alive, and not just a hunk of metal!

And so the Creative Wizard, in this one word, manages to capture so much of Sam's feelings.  He recognizes that Bill is not a person, but yet he has these feelings for him that are beyond what one would normally feel for a pack animal.  We can empathize.  There are times when we must say good bye to things we care about.

Gandalf opens the door and the Fellowship begins to enter.

But at that moment several things happened.  Frodo

felt something seize him by the ankle, and he fell with

a cry.  Bill the pony gave a wild neigh of fear,

and turned tail and dashed away along the lakeside into

the darkness.  Sam leaped after him, and then hearing Frodo's

cry he ran back again, weeping and cursing.

It is interesting to note the order of events.  Frodo falls first, and then Bill runs away.  But Sam first follows Bill, turning around only when he hears Frodo shouting.  From this we can say Sam was watching Bill.  As one might watch an old car be brought to the trash compactor, remembering all of the memories associated with it.  Sam is perhaps staring at Bill with the same grief and nostalgia and pain.  When Bill flees, it's like the trash compactor being turned on.  Sam suddenly regrets his decision, and "leaps" into action.  I imagine him thinking I'm coming, Bill!

Only Frodo's cry, after falling over, captures Sam's attention.  Consciously or not, Sam remembers that Bill is supposed to leave the Fellowship.  Frodo, meanwhile, should not be shouting for help.  If he is, something is wrong.  So Sam returns to Frodo ("weeping and cursing") and finds him being held down by a tentacle coming out of the water.  Sam attacks the tentacle, which lets go of Frodo, and pulls him into the open cave.  Other tentacles (which Sam refers to mistakenly as 'snakes' throughout the scene) come flying forward into the cave, and pull down the Door, causing a cave-in.  The Fellowship is inside, but they are also trapped.  Everyone takes a moment to recover from the attack.

Sam, clinging to Frodo's arm, collapsed on

a step in the black darkness.  'Poor old

Bill!' he said in a choking voice, 'Poor old Bill!

Wolves and snakes!  But the snakes were too much for him.

 I had to choose, Mr. Frodo.  I had to come with you.'

Bill's purpose in the Quest is over.  Frodo's is not.  While Bill accompanied the Fellowship, Sam's personal loyalty to both Frodo and Bill were complementary.  When Bill was sent away, they became contradictory.  Sam was pulled in two directions.  To the animal which he is master over, and to the master whom he serves.  It is interesting, when put that way, that Sam chooses to remain with the one whom he serves, rather than the one whom would serve him.

It is instructive now to note that Sam is a gardener.  Is a gardener master or servant of his garden?  On the one hand, a master - he gets to choose what is planted and where.  But on the other hand, once the garden is planted, he becomes it's servant.  A gardener becomes subject to the needs of the plants.  Until it is strong enough to survive on their own, if the garden is not tended to in a timely way, the garden will die.  And if your garden dies, are you still a gardener?  Were you ever?

"People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights."  Sam does not.  Sam had the right to follow Bill.  Elrond explicitly stated no one is bound to the Quest except Frodo.  Sam does not leave, but it is important to note that he is not staying for the sake of the Quest.  He is staying for Frodo.  Whether the danger is greater or lesser than it is now, he is motivated by devotion to his friend.

Sam's loyalty beckons us to look inward.  He consistently chooses humble service.  He fights tentacles through tears, and even when his loyalties are divided, he is driven in both directions with speed, rather than paralyzed by indecision.  Sam is resolute in his devotion, and we can imagine he would tear himself in two so he could be with both Bill and Frodo if he could.  But he can't.  So he had to choose.  He chose Frodo.  But even after he has made the choice, we can infer he is not wholly satisfied.  He still wishes he could have had both.  But he couldn't.  "I had to come with you."  He was duty-bound.

Gandalf had warned him - he would have to choose.  Sam delights in caring for Bill.  He is very fond of him.  But his duty ultimately leads him to Frodo.  The next time we are faced with a choice between duty and delight, when we cannot have both, we should remember Sam, and the difficult choice he had to make.  Even when our emotions run amok, and we are "weeping and cursing", we must make the dutiful choice.