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Originally Posted by davem
Tolkien di know exactly what he was doing. He was exploring a very complex question, a very real ‘fact’ - what happens to men in inhuman situations, where fear & despair have become the daily facts of life; where the need for a touch, a kiss, for someone to hold you is all that can keep you functioning?
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This makes an effective contrast with the behaviour of the Orcs towards one another in this chapter. Both Orcs and Hobbits have been brutalised by their experiences, but the essential difference between the two races is shown in the contrast of Sam's love with Shagrat's hatred.
The Ring is the catalyst for all of this. It causes the Orcs to kill one another in the fight to get at some unknown prize which Sauron desires, it causes Frodo to lash out at Sam, but it also causes Sam to react with a display of love for his master. He has experienced a little of what Frodo has experienced as a ring bearer, and this I think only serves to magnify his sense of relief when he finally finds Frodo alive.
I like this point in the book. We have seen many of the characters in truly desperate situations and driven to extreme measures, but at this point we get to see two opposites in behaviour, yet both Hobbit and Orc have been driven to this by the same means, by Sauron.