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The Lord Of The Rings is a story about an unlikely hero vanquishing an unimaginable evil by destroying a magic ring. Though the real hero isn't the one holding the ring. Many fans maybe see Frodo as our main hero, others might see Aragorn as the main focus of The Lord of the Rings. But our real hero, Samwise Gamgee, is the sole reason the ring made it to Mount Doom at all. The Lord of the Rings is filled with unlikely heroes, but Samwise is the focal point to the ultimate destruction of the ring.
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It's me
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It's your slam. The Lord of the Rings is a story about an unlikely hero
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vanquishing an unimaginable evil by destroying a magic ring. It's a classic hero's journey, but we all
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know there's more to it than that. Starting with the fact that our hero is not the ring bearer
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nor is it the steward who gives his life for the cause, or the wizard who returns from the dead
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It's not even the rightful king of the land. It's the gardener. And no, it's not just because he literally carried
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the plot on his back, as with the rest of The Lord of the Rings, there's more to Sam's heroism
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than that. Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee. And I don't mean to
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When you think of Sam's most heroic moments in The Lord of the Rings, your mind probably
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goes to his battle with Shelob, his one-man siege on the Tower of Kirith Ungol, or his
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Oscar-worthy moment on Mount Doom. Or maybe you are a book purist and you think about that one time he yelled at a tree for
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trying to drown and suffocate his friends. The point is that Sam's heroic stunts are well-known and well-documented across both the
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books and the movies. If it weren't for his intervention and multiple points in the story
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Frodo may well have died or the ring could have easily been lost and the plan would have been in
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ruin. This willingness to run into danger makes him a valuable member of the Fellowship and a
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perfect ward for Frodo as he assumes the role of ring bearer and hero of the tale. Or at least
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that's what we're led to believe. The truth of the matter is that Frodo is not the center of this
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story. Sam fills those roles of protagonist and hero more readily and more easily than Frodo
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or any other member of our fellowship. Surprisingly, the stunts he performs are the
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least important bit of evidence as to why Sam heroism actually has way more to do with who he is as a character and how the story is structured around him So let start from the beginning The first time he brought up in Tolkien writing we told that Sam father worked for Bilbo and Frodo as a gardener
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While many other hobbits found the residents of Bag End to be odd and socially outcast
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the Gamges befriended them anyway. Bilbo even taught Sam to read, which is typically seen in Hobbiton
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as a peculiar hobby meant only for the wealthy. And when his father grew too old and tired to maintain Bag End's garden
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Sam took up the responsibility of toiling away in the dirt. Though his name is only mentioned in passing
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readers are given a strong sense of Sam's character in just those few short paragraphs
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This is a young hobbit whose loyalty and kindness know no bounds, and he's also happy to quite literally get his hands dirty
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As the story progresses, we learn he is much more quiet and shy than his compatriots
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But when everyone around him gives up hope, Sam is there to pick up the slack with an almost naive amount of optimism
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Just a bit of seasoning. I thought maybe if we was having a roast chicken one night or something
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Roast chicken? You never know. Bilbo fills his head with adventure, and while he marvels at the idea of seeing elves one day
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his oversized feet are planted firmly in the soil of his home. The idea of venturing beyond what is safe and known literally gives him pause
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If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been
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Until Frodo coaxes him forward, a role typically reserved for the mentor of a story, not the protagonist
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Thanks to the brilliance of Peter Jackson, Philip Aboyans, and Fran Walsh, Sam's character remains
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largely consistent in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Played by the immensely talented Sean
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Astin, Sam retains all of his base elements from the books. His optimism, his modesty
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and most importantly, his loyalty are all there in full force. To his credit, Sean Astin really
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became Sam. In his early interviews, both Astin and Elijah Wood talk about their on-set bond and
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and how Aston would often take care of Wood whenever he needed help That friendship really shows up on screen and it helps to carry the story and strengthen the hearts of both characters As an audience we feel it more deeply when Sam asserts himself over the powerful people
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at the Council of Elrond, or when he risks drowning in order to get to Frodo, or when he's sent away
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after fighting with Gollum, only to return of his own volition to bravely rescue his friend
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This is a bashful and unassuming hobbit who becomes the bravest member of the Fellowship
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when faced with the possibility of losing his friends. So by the time we get to Sam's speech to Frodo at the foot of Mount Doom
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we've come to see him as much more than the ring bearer's faithful guardian
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While Sam looks around at the impossible situation they've found themselves in
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and looks down at his nearly unconscious friend, he speaks of his home
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He reminds Frodo of the natural beauty of the Shire and the taste of strawberries
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And still, Frodo is ready to give up. That's when we get what is quite possibly the most iconic line in the entire franchise
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I can't carry it for you. but I can carry you. As Sam carries his friend
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to what they both believe to be their demise, we are reminded of how far he has come through all of this
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He was content with his place in the world, a simple gardener with distant and unattainable dreams of adventure
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looking for nothing more than a simmering pot over a fire. And yet he left his idyllic home
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experienced the wonder and majesty of the elves firsthand, suffered through extraordinary hardships
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and when he had no more strength left, he still persisted, all for the love of his friends
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In this way, Sam represents the themes of The Lord of the Rings better than any other character in the series
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His loyalty and love for his companions, his unwavering optimism in the face of world-ending threats
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and his humble status as a simple gardener enforce Tolkien's main points
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that friendship and fellowship are paramount. True power comes from strength of character
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and life is worth living. There's some good in this world, Mr. Farrell
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and it worth fighting for This alone would make for a strong case to call Sam the hero of the story but we not done yet because we haven even gotten to the end of our tale
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If not for Sam, Sauron's forces would have overtaken Middle-earth, and all the goodness and beauty of the world would have been snuffed out
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Instead, because of the strength of a single hobbit, everyone gets their happy ending
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Bilbo and Frodo go into the West with Gandalf, Galadriel, and Elrond. Arwen marries Aragorn, who is crowned king of Gondor
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Gimli and Legolas are there, and the rest of the hobbits get to return to their lives
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So ends Sam's hero's journey, the one he began by leaving the Shire
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taking on supernatural challenges, defeating an ultimate evil, and returning home forever changed
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Obviously, several members of the Fellowship follow their own hero's journey over the course of The Lord of the Rings
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This is especially true in the movies, where the story's conflict is dialed up to 11
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Aragorn goes from rejecting his birthright to becoming king. Frodo's journey most closely mirrors Sam
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yet he's framed as the protagonist because of his possession of the ring. But it's really Sam's story
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It's Sam's actions that drove the plot forward. It was Sam's character who best embodied the themes of the story
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and grew from his original shy demeanor into a brave adventurer. And at the end of both the books and the movies
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it's Sam who we follow home to Hobbiton. His face, his words, and his loving family are the notes we go out on
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Because Sam is our hero. He's our protagonist. And if you've sat through this whole video and still find yourself disagreeing
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maybe Tolkien himself will convince you, since he also considered Sam to be the chief hero of The Lord of the Rings
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as expressed in one of his many letters. I think the simple, rustic love of Sam and his Rosie, nowhere elaborated
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is absolutely essential to the study of his The Chief Heroes character
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and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life, breathing, eating, working, begetting, and quests
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sacrifice, causes, and the longing for elves and sheer beauty
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