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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Oct 7 2011, 8:06am
Post #1 of 8
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** "The Scouring of the Shire" ** 5. Awake!
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The four hobbits have vanquished half a dozen ruffians, but realize that there are many, many more. Frodo has laid down rules: no slaying of hobbits, no matter what. And "nobody is to be killed at all, if it can be helped." Ok, that's what not to do. But what should they do, hopelessly outnumbered as they are? As Merry points out, 'You won’t rescue Lotho, or the Shire, just by being shocked and sad, my dear Frodo.'
1. What is Frodo actually expecting to happen? Does he accept that there will be a fight, for which he is proposing rules of engagement, or is he hoping to avoid a fight altogether? If the latter, how?
Sam proposes going to Tom Cotton's place, because Tom 'always was a stout fellow. And he has a lot of lads that were all friends of mine.' But Merry immediately shoots this down, as "getting under cover" just as the Shire hobbits have been doing, and instead proposes a radical approach:
‘Raise the Shire!’ said Merry. ‘Now! Wake all our people! They hate all this, you can see: all of them except perhaps one or two rascals, and a few fools that want to be important, but don’t at all understand what is really going on. But Shire-folk have been so comfortable so long they don’t know what to do. They just want a match, though, and they’ll go up in fire. The Chief’s Men must know that. They’ll try to stamp on us and put us out quick. We’ve only got a very short time.
2. Given that Merry knows "hundreds" of hobbits are Sherriffs working for the Chief, how can he be so sure the Shire hobbits will join the uprising in force?
There have been other uprisings against tyrants that have failed by assuming the oppressed will rise up when they did not. The 1832 June Rebellion in France, which forms the climax of Les Miserables, is one example.
3. For extra credit, name some more. Why did they fail?
It is agreed that Sam will go and raise the Cottons, because even though that isn't a sufficient strategy, it will definitely help. Sam, who has personal reasons for heading for the Cottons, sets off. When he reaches the Cottons, he is warmly welcomed by Farmer Cotton and his "lads", who are more than ready to join the rebellion.
You gotta love Cotton's greeting when he recognizes Sam: "The voice is right, and your face is no worse than it was, Sam."
Cotton and the lads set off at once, but Sam has to go and pay his respects to Mrs. Cotton and Rosie, who greets him coolly: ‘Where’ve you been? They said you were dead; but I’ve been expecting you since the Spring. You haven’t hurried have you?’
4. Why was Rosie expecting him "since Spring"? What did she know that no one else in the Shire did?
Meanwhile, Merry has sounded the Horncry of Buckland, "shaking the air":
Awake! Awake! Fear, Fire, Foes! Awake!
Fire, Foes! Awake!
Now, we've heard this before, when Fatty Bolger roused the neighborhood to counter the attack on Crickhollow:
At that moment, among the trees nearby, a horn rang out. It rent the night like fire on a hill-top.
AWAKE! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! AWAKE!
…
The Brandybucks were blowing the Horn-call of Buckland, that had not been sounded for a hundred years, not since the white wolves came in the Fell Winter, when the Brandywine was frozen over.
5. Where has Fatty been all these months? Since Buckland was last roused just over a year ago, they must have remembered this tactic. Why didn't they try it?
6. Is Frodo awake?
The call brought a big response from the hobbits, with over a hundred turning out with such weapons as they could assemble. Even many of the Sherriffs took off their feather-badges and joined in, while others "slunk away."
Sensibly, the four hobbits try to assess the strength and distribution of the enemy. Cotton estimates a total of about 300 ruffians, but it's unclear what weapons they have. Cotton also reveals that the Tooks have held out, and as a result are barricaded in Tookland. Delighted, Pippin rides off to summon them to the battle.
7. The ruffians "keep a pretty close watch on Tookland. No one gets in nor out of it now." So, how will Pippin and his lads get in and the Tooks get out?
Merry has a plan. But just as he is presenting it, word comes that the ruffians are on their way.
Next: The Battle of Bywater
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Elizabeth is the TORnsib formerly known as 'erather'
(This post was edited by Elizabeth on Oct 7 2011, 8:07am)
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Oct 7 2011, 5:37pm
Post #2 of 8
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1. What is Frodo actually expecting to happen? Does he accept that there will be a fight, for which he is proposing rules of engagement, or is he hoping to avoid a fight altogether? If the latter, how?
Frodo was being naive, or idealistic about some peaceful resolution, or just plain doesn't know what to do.
2. Given that Merry knows "hundreds" of hobbits are Sherriffs working for the Chief, how can he be so sure the Shire hobbits will join the uprising in force?
It is a gamble. He probably figures that the common hobbit is fed up and ready to snap. The conversations the Four had at the inn near Buckland made it clear that even many working for the Chief or Sharkey were disillusioned, so he had that nugget of information to go on.
3. For extra credit, name some more. Why did they fail?
Sorry, can't think of any. I think it's only the ones that succeed that stick with me. Well, maybe this: whenever the US invaded Canada during wars with Britain, the US just naturally expected their northern cousins to rise up and throw off the yoke of British rule to seek independence also. This didn't happen for several reasons: 1) The Canadians didn't feel oppressed, 2) they didn't want to trade British rule for American rule, and 3) many British loyalists resettled in Canada after the US Colonies rebelled against Britain, so there was a population chunk in place that was already opposed to gaining independence the American way.
4. Why was Rosie expecting him "since Spring"? What did she know that no one else in the Shire did?
I always ask this myself. Woman's intuition?
5. Where has Fatty been all these months? Since Buckland was last roused just over a year ago, they must have remembered this tactic. Why didn't they try it?
Good question. I think Lotho/Saruman's success was in the gradual takeover of the Shire, not a sudden invasion and conquest. When things creep up on you and get increasingly bad, but without a single, shocking incident, you tend to put up with them rather than blow a horn.
And Fatty did wind up in jail for rebelling in a guerrilla unit; apparently he never thought to use the horn of Buckland, but then again, I don't think Fatty's unit or others operated in secret, so other hobbits knew about the resistance but didn't join it. It took something dramatic to shake them up. I think Merry & Pippin in particular have an exotic aura to them, in addition to Merry's magic horn, that inspires other hobbits to action in ways that an ordinary hobbit, even the Thain or Mayor or the Master of Buckland, could not. I have long thought, when I read this chapter, that if Merry & Pippin had never left the Shire, or if they had returned from Rivendell when Elrond wanted to send them back after the Council, that they wouldn't have had whatever you need to lead the Shire in an uprising. Or more succinctly, no one could have roused the Shire without the proper training.
6. Is Frodo awake?
Yup, but refusing the call to arms. Which when you think about it, requires a great deal of strength and bravery to appear as a wimp and coward when everyone around you is grabbing pitchforks and torches and is spoiling for a fight. Frodo has been very aware, more so, I think, than the other three, of what's wrong with the Shire since they first came back. Awake: He was the one who announced that it was time for the Baggins family to put Lotho in his place. A non-violent social intervention, of course, but he still showed determination and courage in the face of the the timidity of the shirriffs (both those loyal and not loyal to Lotho). Later, they all learned that events had gone way beyond the point where a tongue-lashing or some social snubbing would intimidate Lotho and make things right again, but it was a start with with what little information they had. The others spoke only of punching Lotho's pimply face, again, as if action could be confined to Lotho. They all needed more information to become awake themselves that the whole Shire was in peril.
7. The ruffians "keep a pretty close watch on Tookland. No one gets in nor out of it now." So, how will Pippin and his lads get in and the Tooks get out?
Pippin does take off with an escort, and the ruffians' numbers are very low, plus Pippin gets into Tookland at night. My guess is that once he breached a thin ruffian perimeter, the Tooks on the other side, who had to be keeping a pretty close watch on the ruffians in return, would summon other Tooks and come to his aid. Pippin would also not have hesitated to use his sword to fight any ruffians he encountered, and as we've seen, they don't know how to stand up to someone who fights back, so they could be scattered when surprised.
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Hamfast Gamgee
Tol Eressea
Oct 8 2011, 11:31pm
Post #3 of 8
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One point about this entire chapter.
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Why Ruffians and a few bullying men? Seen as throughout this tale the Hobbits have been facing Orcs or lord of evil magic, wouldn't Orcs, Goblins or possibly Trolls be better enemies for them when they come back to the Shire? Or at least something a bit magical or dominating. A grumpy Barrow-wight, perhaps?
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Oct 9 2011, 7:07pm
Post #4 of 8
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The Shire serves a different purpose.
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It's not really a fantasy land like the rest of Middle Earth. Based on an idealized England of the 18th C, Tolkien maintains it as an enclave of "normality," and here is using it to demonstrate how the evil that we've seen in fantastic creatures elsewhere can still operate in more familiar surroundings.
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Elizabeth is the TORnsib formerly known as 'erather'
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Oct 11 2011, 1:51am
Post #5 of 8
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Why was Rosie expecting him "since Spring"? What did she know that no one else in the Shire did?
It's too bad that the Epilogue was never part of the original publication, as Tolkien had (at one point) wanted it to be! This question was answered there.
It's several years in the future, and after Sam has been talking with teenage Elanor about the coming of the King and Queen to their corner of Middle-earth, he and Rose go outside for a while:
Master Samwise stood at the door and looked away eastward. He drew Mistress Rose to him, and set his arm about her.
"March the twenty-fifth!" he said. "This day seventeen years ago, Rose wife, I didn't think I should ever see thee again. But I kept on hoping."
"I never hoped at all, Sam," she said, "not until that very day; and then suddenly I did. About noon it was, and I felt so glad that I began singing. And mother said: 'Quiet, lass! There's ruffians about.' And I said: 'Let them come! Their time will soon be over. Sam's coming back.' And you came."
"I did," said Sam. "To the most belovedest place in all the world. To my Rose and my garden."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Oct 12 2011, 12:41am
Post #7 of 8
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It also seems to me that since hobbits are so innocent (minus the Four), they needed a lesser evil to deal with, something more within their reach. Overall, it didn't take much to drive out the ruffians--the Uruk-hai would not have been nearly so easy. Also, I'm not sure Orcs, trolls, etc would have been content with just bullying--they seem more likely to kill and eat. One hungry Wormtongue was bad enough!
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ElanorTX
Tol Eressea
Oct 13 2011, 7:23am
Post #8 of 8
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In earlier drafts of this chapter (History of Middle-earth)
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Frodo takes a more active leadership role. Each time that JRRT revised it, he transferred more authority to Merry.
"I shall not wholly fail if anything can still grow fair in days to come."
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