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Originally Posted by Lalwendė
Maybe impulsive is too strong a term, certainly seen in the light of Gollum's impulsiveness in the previous book, but Pippin is certainly not cool and calculated. He is emotionally moved by the sight of Boromir's broken horn in the hands of Denethor, moved by the sight of a father in grief, and coupled with the sense that his own bravery is being questioned, he is prompted to speak and act. In this chapter I think we see that Pippin is very much the young man, in that he wishes to appear capable and brave, but he also wears his feelings on his sleeve and has a great intelligence. Probably more than being impulsive, I think he is simply a little unpredictable, as Gandalf finds out to his pleasant surprise.
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Absolutely. I was not trying to say that Pippin had fully matured, rather that he had matured some and that this also can be seen in his actions. For example, the Pippin from Book 1 would not in all likelihood have been able to go before Denethor like he does now. He does still have a way to go yet, but he's getting there. Mostly I had a problem with your post because it sounded to me as if you didn't feel Pippin had matured much at all and that he was still the foolish young Took.
Part of his 'impulsivity' I think can be blamed on his inexperience. He did not have the advantage of really getting accustomed to Rohan first, which could have been a sort of intermediary stop. Pippin went from the breaking of the Fellowship to the Orcs to the Ents to Orthanc to Minas Tirith. His personality combined with inexperience is going to lead to some impulsivity. Pippin feels that he has something to prove. The whole reason he is going with Gandalf is because of his mistake with the Palantir; no doubt he will feel he has to make up for it. Then he comes in and the men immediately doubt him, so he associates himself with Boromir to heighten their esteem. (Actually, this may have been a pretty good idea if Boromir weren't dead...) Maybe he didn't think it would do any harm in letting them know about Boromir's death.
Pippin tries hard. He just does not yet have the wisdom and the experience to deal with the situation he is thrown into.