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I thought I'd add something, too. To me, Tom has always somehow represented the power of all that is good in the hobbits - the quality that made them able to do what more powerful, wiser beings could not. He embodies the joy, simplicity, humility and closeness to the earth - the "groundedness", which the hobbits at their best also have, and which seems to give them their unexpected strength. When we see Tom triumph over Old Man Willow and the Barrow Wight, it echoes the hobbits' eventual triumph over their adversaries - and the loyalty they show to each other when faced with these dangers also gives an inkling of the source of their strength. Think of the way the memory of the Shire strengthens the hobbits later in the tale, in "dark places" - this simple, humble sort of happiness gives them courage and ability to resist the ring. It seems that Tolkien is setting up Tom's (and the hobbits'?) kind of power as different from, and in some ways stronger than the power of men, wizards, elves, etc. in opposing evil (or at least, less prone to corruption).
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