Master Samwise can read

[Morsul the Dark]

Throughout the book were supposed to believe Sam is a bit simple so to speak he does however know how to read as Gaffer says "Hes learned him his letter meaning no harm of course" and all the other scoff...so I must wonder why do we onsider sam simple when hes actually seemingly smarter than half the shire?

I never liked that simple-minded view of Sam and it certainly seems uncharactoristic.

[Mithalwen]

I must admit I never thought of Sam as stupid ...and I hate the portrayal in the film ... the radio portrayal of him is much more as I imagined him ... ... I think Sam was probably regarded more as being "away with the fairies" for his interest in elves "walking trees" and old stories rather than intellectually impaired as such....
Sam, although he often chides hims self for stupidity is so often the best judge of the situation - he thinks out what Frodo has done at Parth Galen, he is cautious of Strider and Gollum.....

Also I think it was far from Tolkien's intention - Sam was modelled on the "batmen" of WW1 who so often save their officers bacon with native wit and resourcefulness triumphing over "breeding" and privileged education. In someway I would say Sam is modern rather than anachronistic because of his social mobility. Gaffer clearly thinks that Sam has "ideas above his station" in getting an education when his fate is merely to follow in his father's footsteps. In comparison Merry and Pippin seem like "hooray henries" , mucking about until they follow in their father's footsteps. Although financially Sam benefitted from Frodo's legacy, socially he has reached the level of Merry and Pippin (could the gaffer have imagined their families intermarrying - I think not..) and takes the elected position of Mayor for the rest of his life ..... Same is about the only "self-made man" in the whole canon - not so stupid to my mind........... He is also a microcosm of social changes happening in the UK at the same time as the books were written .......

[Firefoot]

I think part of it is that Sam is a more "simple" Hobbit than Frodo, Merry, and Pippin. He is more of the "average" Hobbit. Frodo is, obviously, the Ring-bearer, and he is also 'higher' and more Elvish. Sam is more mature than Merry and Pippin, who act younger, especially in FotR, and are more adventurous. You note that when they returned to the Shire Sam and Frodo went back to their normal way of dressing whereas Merry and Pippin

"cut a great dash in the Shire with their songs and their tales and their finery, and their wonderful parties. 'Lordly' folk called them, meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid, laughing and singing songs of far away; and if they were now large and magnificent, they were unchanged otherwise, unless they were indeed more fairspoken and more jovial and full of merriment than ever before."

(Talk about run-on sentences!) Sam has more plain-Hobbit sense. His wish in Mordor is for regular day-light and fresh water. He isn't stupid; his values are just in different places. Back in the Shire, he is counted as different for liking tales of Elves and Dragons. Sam isn't stupid; he's just different. He actually has a larger grasp of other things outside the Shire than most Hobbits do, but from the other hobbit's perspective this is queer, and seen as chasing after things that have nothing to do with him.

I'll just end with this quote from A Short Cut to Mushrooms. I think it is a good reflection of who Sam really is:

"They [Elves] seem a bit above my likes and dislikes, so to speak," answered Sam slowly. "It don't seem to matter what I think about them. They are quite different from what I expected - so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were."

[Morsul the Dark]

good quotes, this is why i need to reread the books Im forgetting all this wonderful information

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Yes, I agree with the above points. I think that Samwise's humility really shows when he lectures himself for his mistakes. It is not so much that he is unintelligent, rather he is very modest and very willing to acknowledge his own shortcomings.

Like Mithalwen said, he was probably regarded as being queer as opposed to being thick-witted.

[InklingElf]

For all of Sam's simple,rural, yet courageable ways I love this about him most:

And then softly, to his own surprise, there at the vain of his long journey and his grief,moved by what thought in his heart he could not tell, Sam began to sing.

A simpleton can show us that we can still sing in the darkness.