The quest has changed each of them, and those changes are displayed throughout their confrontations in the Shire. This is where the hobbits display their new-found maturity. This event was pivotal to my interpretation of the hobbits in my first reading, though. I was shocked that there could be trouble after the Ring is destroyed. Almost every book I had ever read had an ultimate climax, and then a denouement to return the main characters to normalcy. I was utterly unprepared for the Scouring in my first read of LotR. To the Final words of the text, where else? What Do You Think? In any case, I read the remainder of the text dutifully, but without much enthusiasm. It was the departure, the absence, which truly made me sad. I do not know if this deepened my sadness. These characters were dying and passing into the next life, leaving the others to pass on their story. ‘white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise’ ( RK, Vi, IX, 1030). As Frodo gazes out into the mist and espies Instead, I read the entire passage as an extended metaphor for death. Because of these facts, I did not understand that Frodo and the others aboard the ship were headed to a land of healing. It is important to note, once again, that I was not a very observant reader in terms of foreshadowing, and I did not read the appendices. Gandalf’s acceptance of grief made me that much more emotive for the remainder of the scene, and I remember tucking myself away for a good cry after finishing the text. As a young boy, this was not the kind of response I typically received to tears. This was a consolation to me, as a reader who was already crying before this line. ‘I will not say: do not weep for not all tears are an evil’ ( RK, VI, IX, 1030). Gandalf tells the hobbits that he will not castigate them for crying: The tradition is kept alive for another generation of hobbits, and the obligation that began with Bilbo continues.Īnother one of the most memorable quotes from my first read comes from this scene. The only solace I had was the way in which Frodo hands down his story to Sam. I was heart-broken when it became clear that all three of these characters were leaving.
Of course, reading it again, I saw just how many times the narration describes such a departure, but I was not looking for it the first time. I was not expecting these three major characters to leave now, so late in the text and with so little forewarning. On some level, then, I knew that the heroes could not all live the rest of their days in Gondor or the Shire together. The blow of the previous departures was softened by my expectation that all books ended with characters back to where they began. Not only was it the end of Frodo’s journey, but of Bilbo’s and Gandalf’s as well. This parting of ways, though, was much more difficult.
#BILBO AND FRODO DIFFERENCES SERIES#
The lengthy series of departures earlier in the text were very trying for me.
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