To have them know of each other through Sam working for Frodo, so that by Frodo knowing him Gandalf would likely trust Sam in helping Frodo. I like to think that Tolkien had Sam be Frodo's "servant" for a few reasons: I would agree to what Glorfindel posted for an in-universe explanation, but I would like to share a possible out of the universe explanation. You might also look at the answers to this question: Did Tolkien consider Sam Gamgee to be the true hero of the Lord of the Rings. "My 'Samwise' is indeed (as you note) largely a reflexion of the English soldier-grafted on the village-boys of early days, the memory of the privates and my batmen that I knew in the 1914 War, and recognized as so far superior to myself." A good gardener would be as valued as a good chef.)Īs Rand al'Thor excellently pointed out, this is supported by this quote of Tolkien's: (And the position of "gardener" is a long way from "slave". If he has a job then he may as well work for Frodo. To portray Sam as "ordinary" by the standards of pre-WW2 Britain then he has to have a job. Having Sam be genuinely "working class" makes his point much better. But if Tolkien had written all the Hobbits of the Fellowship as wealthy upper-class he could reasonably be accused of portraying a situation in which it is only wealthy upper-class people who get to save the world. It is stated in many places that Tolkien at least partly wrote LOTR as a parallel to WWI, in which he believed that the doggedness and strength of the ordinary Britisher got them through. If Sam were depicted as his equal he would also be wealthy. He owns a house, he throws large parties, he doesn't need to work, he has inherited wealth from Bilbo. If we expected readers to apply their understanding of the British class system to Middle Earth, then Frodo is quite definitely a member of the wealthy class. Class distinctions were very much stronger then than they are now. You very much have to remember the world in which Tolkien was writing. The entire character of Sam basically confuses me. Perhaps Tolkien made Sam a "slave" specifically for there to be a maximum contrast once he has been through all the trials and comes back as a leader? Although, even then, he still seems like he looks up to Frodo, in spite of basically carrying Frodo to Mount Doom. Hobbits seem like they all mostly live in peace and harmony, with not many power struggles and things of that nature. Since Hobbits are fictional entities, it wasn't strictly necessary for Tolkien to have such as "master/slave" tradition included in the story, at least among Hobbits. Still, there's something about it which makes me uncomfortable. I'm not at all ignorant about actual history, and I know that until very recently, this kind of relationship was extremely common. Is there some specific point in making Sam play the role he has? Could it be that it's simply his (perhaps largely imagined) low intelligence that makes him so submissive toward Frodo? As in, "good ol' Frodo is so smart, so he'd better call the shots"? Low self-esteem, perhaps as a result from being talked down to all his life in Hobbiton by the older hobbits? With this in mind, is there any particular reason that Tolkien decided to not just make Sam Frodo's close and trusty friend, who might do work for him but isn't in any way a "servant" or "slave"? Would this really have changed the story in a major way? Perhaps I'm failing to see it just because I want him to be "normal" or on "equal terms" with Frodo? It's heavily implied that Sam isn't the sharpest individual, but I mostly don't notice any of this supposed stupidity. Perhaps because I'm essentially Sam in terms of social status, if even that.Īlthough he ends up being extremely heroic and important, and (spoiler warning) eventually becomes the long-time mayor of Hobbiton, during the entire epic journey, he is always somehow "below" Frodo, and Frodo is always the "obvious" leader, even though he barely seems to have any more wits than Sam in most situations. This fundamentally bothers me, for some reason. If I have to find one "flaw" about The Lord of the Rings, it may be the fact that Sam is more or less the slave of Frodo, albeit a willing servant.
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