The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Book Project Quarter 3: Finding Character

2. Frodo Baggins • Frodo is the protagonist of The Lord of the Rings and is on a quest to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom. The book portrays him as a chivalrous hobbit with a kind and innocent personality. Frodo is chivalrous because of the the important quest he embarks on and also showing little to no fear towards the dangers of him getting killed by his enemies. The way that Frodo is kind and patient to other characters can also be explained through his relationship with Gollum. At any point in the book where Gollum is showing off his childish characteristics, Frodo acts as his caretaker and shows much more patience with him than Samwise does. An example of this would be whenever Gollum is going into a forbidden pool just to catch fish. Samwise scolds him for his deed, while Frodo attempts to get him out for his own good. Frodo is also the only character in the book that shows compassion and pities Gollum because of his lifestyle and obsession with the Ring. He evens warns Gollum that the Ring could corrupt him, which also leads to my point that Frodo cares about what really happens to Gollum. Frodo has a friendly relationship with Sam and is always willing to work and cooperate with him. One example of this occurs when Sam and Frodo are about to fall off the edge of a mountain. Frodo asks Sam for rope. Frodo instructs Sam to use the rope to throw it over a part of the mountain where he can climb up and be saved. This shows that they are able to work together in danger and show strong teamwork. Frodo’s physical attributes are the same as any other Hobbit in Middle-Earth. He has curly brown hair, pointed ears, blue eyes, and has the distinguishable attribute of any Hobbit with his short stature.

3. SamwiseGamgee • SamwiseGamgee accompanies Frodo on his journey to destroy the One Ring and was originally part of the Fellowship of the Ring before it disbanded. Samwise is a bit of a worry some hobbit who often shows impatience toward Gollum, but can also be very kind to his friends, more specifically, Frodo. It was mentioned that Samwise tends to get frustrated with Gollum, and this is significantly represented throughout the book and also tends to reflect on his personality a bit. In the point in the book where Frodo and Sam encounter Gollum, Sam basically just tries to instigate trivial arguments with Gollum because of Gollum’s childish behavior and inconvenient mischief. He scolds Gollum when he jumps into the Forbidden Pool, while Frodo is the one who actually attempts to get him out for his own good. The reason that Sam shows hatred towards Gollum is most likely because he attempted to strangle Sam when he met with the Hobbits. While it may seem that Sam is a character that gets frustrated easily and is impatient, he shows strong friendship towards his traveling companion and fellow Hobbit, Frodo. As I mentioned before, Frodo and Sam have shown that they can work as a team when it is essential in times of danger. I mentioned the instances about the mountain and how Frodo was on the verge of dying, but the two worked together in order to overcome their obstacle. In another point in the book, Frodo is attacked by the giant spider, Shelob in Gollum’s attempt to get the Ring from him when he is kidnapped by orcs. After these evemts, Sam vows to rescue Frodo from the orcs. Samwise shows similar attributes to Frodo, as they are both Hobbits with Hobbit characteristics. They are short in height, they possess light blue eyes, and have curly brown hair.

4. Gollum/Sméagol • Gollum is a creature with an unnatural and unhealthy obsession with the One Ring after finding it in a river one day. Frodo and Sam meet Gollum one day while on their travels to Mount Doom on the quest for the Ring’s destruction. Gollum originally had the Ring, but it was stolen from him by Frodo’s relative, Bilbo Baggins. This led to Gollum’s hatred towards the Hobbits and once he realized that Frodo was the current possessor of the Ring, he pursued him in hopes of taking back his “Precious”. After his long pursuit of Frodo, Gollum finally finds him being accompanied by SamwiseGamgee. He strangles Samwwise, who then shows hatred towards him. Sam scolds Gollum for most of the nonsense that he says and does, such as diving into the Forbidden Pool and leading them into the layer of Shelob, the giant spider. Frodo’s approach on Gollum seems to be much more patient. While there are some instances where Frodo scolds him, he is only doing it for his own good instead of trying to fight with him. As I mentioned before, Frodo seems to be kind of his caretaker. Gollum, however, is asked to lead Frodo and Sam to their destination, but he betrays them and leads them into Shelob’s layer in hopes of getting Frodo killed and taking back the Ring. Frodo realizes that Gollum cannot have redemption and truly knows that he is wicked and selfish because of his terrible lust for the Ring. Gollum is described to be a small, bony, but terrorizing creature who became overly obsessed with the Ring that it became the only part of his life. Before he was corrupted by the Ring, he was a young resident of Middle-Earth who lived by a river, and his name was Sméagol. He lived with his brother, but strangled him to death after finding the Ring and fighting over it. He eventually went to live on his own in a lair near an island, spending many years talking to himself and the Ring that he called his “Precious”, completely isolating himself from society.