Penn State Deluge - Vol. 2 No. 1 - Spring 2004

To understand the nature of the identity struggles that harry the hobbits upon their return to the Shire, it is essential to understand the role the Shire plays in the formation of hobbit identity, and the manner in which the hobbit protagonists interact with their identities. Tolkien's hobbits possess a comforting and inviting identity that characterizes them as the intermediary between the reader and the intense fantasy of Middle-earth. Their historical experience prior to the narrative's outset produced this identity, and by the time The Lord of the Rings begins, hobbits have enjoyed a stable society in the Shire for over 1,400 years, and "there in that pleasant corner of the world they plied their well-ordered business of living, and they heeded less and less the world outside where dark things moved, until they came to think that peace and plenty were the rule in Middle-earth and the right of all sensible folk" (Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings 5).

Because the four hobbit protagonists of The Lord of the Rings spend their childhood in this idyllic setting, they are totally unprepared for the dangers that await them as the War of the Ring sweeps them up: as Elrond insists, the hobbits "do not understand and cannot imagine what lies ahead" (269). Yet at all stages of the journey Frodo and his hobbit companions exceed Elrond's expectations. They derive comfort from maintaining their unique and carefree Shire identities, and by preserving their memories of home that formed them. This practice enables them to display the quintessential hobbit fortitude "that astonish[es] those who [do] not know them well and [look] no further than their bellies and their well-fed faces" (6). Hobbits' isolation from what readers regard as Middle-earth's fantasy signals their evolution into the welcoming intermediaries to which readers relate so well. Readers depend on the hobbits' gentle and amicable identities to ease them into the fantasy, just as the hobbits themselves depend on their identities to persevere through it: they survive the overwhelming evil they meet during their journey by continually reasserting the integrity of their Shire-bred identities.

Merry and Pippin demonstrate the most amusing instance of this coping technique after they accompany Treebeard's army of Ents to the destruction of Isengard. Gandalf approaches the ruined gates with Theoden and his entourage only to find "two small figures lying on [a great rubble heap] at their ease…. There were bottles and bowls and platters laid beside them, as if they had just eaten well, and now rested from their labour…. Amid all the wreck of Isengard this seemed…the strangest sight" (543). Sitting in a far-away land on the edge of destruction does not deter Merry and Pippin from carving out a niche of comfort and ease. It is their carefree innocence that differentiates their Shire identity from that of the Rohirrim, whose struggle affords few opportunities for mirth. The hobbits' perplexing cheer in the wake of the battle bewilders and enchants the Rohirrim, and when Theoden inquires about their customs in fascination, Merry is more than happy to oblige. Gandalf expresses his fond exasperation for Merry's lengthy and enthusiastic response, also capturing the quintessence of hobbits that makes them unique among all the free peoples of Middle-earth: "You do not know your danger, Theoden…. These hobbits will sit on the edge of ruin and discuss the pleasures of the table, or the small doings of their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, and remoter cousins to the ninth degree, if you encourage them with undue patience" (544-545).

Likewise, Frodo and Sam rely on their identity and their memories of the Shire for comfort as they trek towards Mount Doom and the seemingly hopeless goal of their quest. In Sam's most dire moment on the plains beneath Mount Doom, he realizes that their scant provision renders a return journey impossible. The following passage demonstrates the power of Sam's memories of home to support him even as he accepts that he will never see the objects of his longing again.

…when the task was done, there they would come to an end, alone, houseless, foodless I the midst of a terrible desert. There would be no return.

'So that was the job I felt I had to do when I started,' thought Sam: 'to help Mr. Frodo to the last step and then die with him? Well, if that's the job, then I must do it. But I would dearly like to see [the Shire] again, and [childhood sweetheart] Rosie Cotton and her brothers, and the Gaffer…I can't think somehow that Gandalf would have sent Mr. Frodo on this errand, if there hadn't a' been any hope of his ever coming back at all….

But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was turned to a new strength. Sam's plain hobbit-face grew stern, almost grim, as the will hardened in him, and he felt through all his limb; a thrill, as if he was turning into some creature of stone and steel that neither despair nor weariness nor endless barren miles could subdue. (913)

Sam's dependence on his memory of a safe Shire behind him—even one that he may never live to see—is vital to his survival because it plays a central role in his identity: he endures his exile from the Shire and his incongruity in foreign lands only through his faith that the Shire survives and awaits his return.

His identity's dependence on the integrity of place is evident is his reaction to the vision in the prophetic Mirror of Galadriel. Its grim portent of "devilry at work in the Shire" (353) in the form of poverty and environmental destruction almost drives Sam to abandon the quest, crying, "I can't stay here…I must go home" (353). Galadriel rebukes him, reminding that the hobbits risk not only their physical safety by joining the Fellowship; they also risk losing their home as they grow farther from it emotionally. Consequently, they risk losing their identity that, as the above passages demonstrate, depends repeatedly on their memories of home. Sam's reaction further demonstrates that although one's experience of place shapes identity, it is one's memory of place and one's faith in its security during an absence that sustains it. Illustrating this assertion is the fact that Sam's only moment of weakness in his otherwise perfect devotion to Frodo occurs at the Mirror, where his assurance of the Shire's safety crumbles.

In these instances, all four of the hobbits rely on their Shire-bred sensibilities and memories to sustain them throughout their quest. However, their experiences as pivotal participants in the War of the Ring change their identities, breaking their ties with the Shire and ensuring a difficult homecoming. Tolkien explores the ramifications of their journey on their return in the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings, challenging the reader to abandon formulaic expectations of fantasy to focus merely on the plot. In these chapters, Tolkien's narrative takes on a new, more mature challenge of confronting the fact that life goes on after the quest ends, and that victory abroad does not translate into one at home as well.

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[ Contents | Abstract | I | II | III | IV | V | Notes | Works Cited ]

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