![]() ![]() I really do feel that the love that Tolkien attempted to portray was a warrior's bond blended with a complex caste friendship. There is certainly a love there, but I feel as though Sam has more of a love for Frodo than vice versa. Even then, Sam continues the book left for him by Frodo and after however many years after having married and raised around a dozen children (the exact figure escapes me) he sails west to the undying lands in his old age to be with Frodo. Frodo also mistreats Sam a lot throughout their journey (albeit under the influence of the ring) and in the end after all Sam has done for Frodo, he essentially abandons him as he is no longer content with living in the Shire. Without Sam their mission would have been a complete failure, this much I think is obvious. I sort of think that Sam gets the short end of it for all that he does though. He risks his life by confronting Gollum, defending Frodo against Shelob and by rescuing him from the orcs thereafter, oh and of course carrying him up mount doom. Sam leaves the comforts of home to follow Frodo to a place that may as well be another planet to him. I always viewed there as being love between Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings. Feel free to skip it if you don't feel like reading a wall of text. It's a love not catalyzed by sexuality but it's a love story none-the-less. There is no doubt that Sam and Frodo's relationship is one of the greatest loves stories ever told. but it's reflected in the end of the story too and it is masterfully done when Sam realizes that Frodo is leaving with Bilbo and Gandalf. It's every bit as tragic as Romeo and Juliet's death scene. "Don't go where I can't follow" chokes me up every time. I'm sure there are straight men who've shared an intimate platonic bond due to a common experience in something like WWII. Maybe some of them had romantic relationships in their youth with other men that resulted in conflicted bonds that serve their memory later in life. I imagine a lot of gay and bisexual men did the same. It's the culture of the time reflected by the culture of Tolkien's time. Sure Sam goes off and marries and has children. Sam even admits it one night to Frodo while watching him sleep. Sam and Frodo love each other fully deeply and with as much commitment that any bond described. It's not because he's implying that Sam is attracted to Frodo sexually but he's talking about the deeper bond that exists in a relationship of which sexuality is but one path to achieve. When Tolkien talks about Sam fighting to defend from Shelob, the language he uses is that of a small animal with teeth fighting to defend his mate. There's this bond that exists between them that even in the end, leaves little doubt to the depth, breadth and platonic intimacy of how they feel for each other. I say all of this to frame the bond and commitment that two people can potentially share between each other. It also serves to tie together our community. and when the children are gone, that bond serves to provide us comfort in company of our mates in our twilight years. So, nature has seen fit to bond us together to give birth to and raise children. We are creatures that have a long childhood because we have large heads that serves our intellect. I place that second because while it's the more primitive mechanic of survival of the fittest, it nuanced by the traits that serve our fitness. The second is that it obviously serve procreation. So the first is the bond that it creates between two people. Lust and romantic ardor both serve as catalysts in bonding two people together in a lasting commitment. I would actually place the most ovbvious reason second. What I mean, is that sexuality is a means to an end, when it comes to our lives and that of fictional characters. ![]() The sexual orientation of the Sam and Frodo are irrelevant, but not in the way that someone saying that might typically mean as a way of dismissing the importance of sexuality. In this particular instance there's a context that I think is reflected in the time that the book was written. I have the conditioning of society to understand the male/female dynamic but I've had the internal motivation to examine same-sex relationship. What being gay does give me is the opportunity to look at relationships from a different perspective. As a consequence I do typically go looking for subtext that implies a relationship. Now, I'm not going to be boorish and say that Sam and/or Frodo are gay. I've been listening to the unabridged audio books and I've gotten to the point where Sam and Frodo are attacked by Shelob and Sam is now lamenting having to leave Frodo.
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