I think people tend to overlook the fact that hobbit society is pretty stratified, and a small group of leading families dominate the scene: these are essentially the families related to Bilbo as enumerated in the party chapter. The Bagginses are the 'gentry' for Hobbiton, for example. Right at the top are the two very rich and powerful hereditary figures of the Took and Thain and the Brandybuck Master of Buckland (whose family were formerly the Oldbucks, and Thains before the Tooks). Pippin and Merry are the eldest sons and heirs of these figures. They actually are 'princes of the halflings'. Social relations in the Shire are fairly good, but still although the Gamgees, Cottons, Sandymans and the rest may gossip about 'the quality' in the safety of the pub, they are deferential enough to their faces, while Merry and Pippin on their home ground are breezy and confident despite their youth, as their status would encourage.
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