*catches breath* Here I am, late again.
As usual, I haven't the time to read everyone's posts, as much as I desire. But I was able to pick up a little in the discussion.
For some reason I have always loathed Gollum. Maybe it is basically because of how he looks, the way he speaks, to something deeper like his treachery. But reading the chapter again, I have finally felt the pity that Bilbo felt for him, the reason why he stayed his hand and did not kill him.
He could be hated for killing Deagol, but the Ring is the only thing to blame, for its beauty has blinded him to murder. The following line, especially, almost brought me to tears in pity for Gollum:
Quote:
So they called him Gollum, and cursed him, and told him to go far away; and his grandmother, desiring peace, expelled him from the family and turned him out of her hole.
He wandered in loneliness, weeping a little for the hardness of the world,...
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Doubtless he would have done something to prevent this disowning, if only the power of the Ring had not subdued him.
I was also amazed by Frodo's intense love for the Shire and its inhabitants, allowing himself to be exiled to save it.
Finally,
mark12_30, I feel the same way as you do about Sam's devotion for Frodo. Although, frankly, at first I laughed out loud, thinking that Sam's initial reason for coming with Frodo is to see the Elves. But even if that is true, it wouldn't hurt, because eventually he has shown what he can do in his loyalty to Frodo.