Samwise Gamgee gets caught by Gandalf 'eavesdropping" (extract) -- The friendship theme in the "LOTR"

   At the beginning of the novel the reader learns about the world of Hobbiton and its inhabitants.
   Samwise Gamgee is the character in "The Lord of the Rings" whose faith, devotion and loyalty impresses in the story. And his quote: "Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee. And I do not mean to, I do not mean to." (And "Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee...)
   In the film there is an impression that it was Gandalf who told him so: though Gandalf let Sam be Frodo's companion in the book it was the elf called Gildor...
    Going back to Samwise Gamgee: the end of chapter 2: a moving and yet funny episode showing how deeply the friends were attached to each other.

      "Suddenly he stopped as if listening. Frodo became aware that all was very quiet, inside and outside. Gandalf crept to one side of the window. Then with a dart he sprang to the sill, and thrust a long arm out and downwards. There was a squawk, and up came Sam Gamgee’s curly head hauled by one ear.

‘Well, well, bless my beard!’ said Gandalf. ‘Sam Gamgee is it? Now what may you be doing?’

‘Lor bless you, Mr. Gandalf, sir!’ said Sam. ‘Nothing! Leastways I was just trimming the grass-border under the window, if you follow me.’ He picked up his shears and exhibited them as evidence.

‘I don’t,’ said Gandalf grimly. It is some time since I last heard the sound of your shears. How long have you been eavesdropping?’

‘Eavesdropping, sir? I don’t follow you, begging your pardon. There ain’t no eaves at Bag End, and that’s a fact.’ 

‘Don’t be a fool! What have you heard, and why did you listen?’ Gandalf’s eyes flashed and his brows stuck out like bristles.

‘Mr. Frodo, sir!’ cried Sam quaking. ‘Don’t let him hurt me, sir! Don’t let him turn me into anything unnatural! My old dad would take on so. I meant no harm, on my honour, sir!’

‘He won’t hurt you,’ said Frodo, hardly able to keep from laughing, although he was himself startled and rather puzzled. ‘He knows, as well as I do, that you mean no harm. But just you up and answer his questions straight away!’

‘Well, sir,’ said Sam dithering a little. ‘I heard a deal that I didn’t rightly understand, about an enemy, and rings, and Mr. Bilbo, sir, and dragons, and a fiery mountain, and - and Elves, sir. I listened because I couldn’t help myself, if you know what I mean. Lor bless me, sir, but I do love tales of that sort. And I believe them too, whatever Ted may say. Elves, sir! I would dearly love to see them. Couldn’t you take me to see Elves, sir, when you go?’

Suddenly Gandalf laughed. ‘Come inside!’ he shouted, and putting out both his arms he lifted the astonished Sam, shears, grass-clippings and all, right through the window and stood him on the floor. ‘Take you to see Elves, eh?’ he said, eyeing Sam closely, but with a smile flickering on his face. ‘So you heard that Mr. Frodo is going away?’

‘I did, sir. And that’s why I choked: which you heard seemingly. I tried not to, sir, but it burst out of me: I was so upset.’

‘It can’t be helped, Sam,’ said Frodo sadly. He had suddenly realized that flying from the Shire would mean more painful partings than merely saying farewell to the familiar comforts of Bag End. ‘I shall have to go. But’ - and here he looked hard at Sam - ‘if you really care about me, you will keep that dead secret. See? If you don’t, if you even breathe a word of what you’ve heard here, then I hope Gandalf will turn you into a spotted toad and fill the garden full of grass-snakes.’

Sam fell on his knees, trembling. ‘Get up, Sam!’ said Gandalf. I have thought of something better than that. Something to shut your mouth, and punish you properly for listening. You shall go away with Mr. Frodo!’

‘Me, sir!’ cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk. ‘Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!’ he shouted, and then burst into tears."

 By the way, Sam's favourite (often used) words seem to be "if you follow me", "if you know what I mean" and the like.

   The book is so much about friendship.

  "The Lord of the Rings" is also interesting as it shows relationships between people of different backgrounds and social status but these distinctions kind of disappear: Frodo is Sam's master, Sam is his gardener, which do not stop them from being friends actually, the same is for Frodo and Aragorn (a simple hobbit and a patronising well-bred leader (king)), Gimly and Legolas. As for Frodo and Sam -- it is a continuation of the servant-master-friendship theme in literature, which is found, for example, in the "Puss in Boots" tale, Beaumarchais' "The Marriage of Figaro", P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeves and Wooster"stories.

   As it is told in Carpenter's biography of J.R.R Tolkien (if I remember rightly), the image of Samwise was partly drawn from or inpired by his orderly during World War I (in which the writer did not happen to fight because he had fallen ill). There is also a lot of curious information. Tolkien himself valued friends, there was the Inkling club.
   "The Lord of the Rings" book can be read online here http://www.ae-lib.org.ua/texts-c/tolkien__the_lord_of_the_rings_1__en.htm (including the author's foreword).
 
  

Reading experience

   When I was a child, I enjoyed reading fairy tales, the magic that was in them, I think. For example, when I was about nine, there was a rather long tale, about a Russian warrier, who fought for something, had lots of adventures, I was reading this in the park library (there was a library in the park at that time in the city of Saratov, where we went for the whole summer), it was very exciting! Now I don't recall the details, the plot.
I liked other tales, magic stories, adventures, too. I liked the Chronicles of Narnia a lot. One of my favourite books was 'The Horse and His Boy'. When I was rereading it some time later -- I wanted more details: descriptions, relationships, psychology. I was about eleven or twelve -- I guess, something else was becoming more interesting about fairy tales, not the magical, adventure aspect, but the relationships of people, their psychology, their feelings, probably.

Tolkien: Allegory and Applicability

   From the foreword to The Lord of the Rings. Here are some parts containing interesting ideas.

   "I should like to say something here with reference to the many opinions or guesses that I have received or have read concerning the motives and meaning of the tale. The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them. As a guide I had only my own feelings for what is appealing or moving, (...)"
Deeply move! That's an essential point about the epic.
  "As for any inner meaning or 'message', it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical. As the story grew it put down roots (into the past) and threw out unexpected branches (...)" -- Then the author justifies there was no allegory of the war implied.

    Allegory and Applicability
   "Other arrangements could be devised according to the tastes or views of those who like allegory or topical reference. But I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author.  An author cannot of course remain wholly unaffected by his experience, but the ways in which a story-germ uses the soil of experience are extremely complex, and attempts to define the process are at best guesses from evidence that is inadequate and ambiguous."
  (In Carpenter's biography of Tolkien it is stated that there were quite many letters in which he mentioned attitude to allegory.)

   In this passage the writer attempts to draw the line between 'allegory' and 'applicability' as a means of expression, also clarifying why he dislikes 'allegory'.
  "The purposed domination of the author", that's what Tolkien dislikes about allegory. As I gather, the man disliked any imposing, concerning his Christian faith, too he did speak about Christian values in his works, but, say, through through the characters' actions and situation, not through declaring the ideas.
  As it seems, if the question of allegory and applicability is looked on and developed from the above mentioned positions, 'allegory' in this sense is often mixed up with 'applicability', because if there's an image in the story (a symbolic image), it can mean several things, from which is for the reader (and the author) to choose (or not to choose).
  If anyone has something to say about the topic, feel free.
 
   Some 'blogspot links' concerning allegory, metaphor in literature etc. http://verdevivoverdechiaro.blogspot.ru/2008/04/yesterday-i-found-some-posts-on-blogs.html
    My other posts on Tolkien.
  Tolkien as a Christian writer, parallels and symbolism, the image of elves, Samwise Gamgee at the beginning of the story. http://verdevivoverdechiaro.blogspot.ru/2015/11/reading-tolkiens-lord-of-rings.html
  The passage where Samwise Gamgee gets caught by Gandalf  'eavesdropping, his appearance, quotes. The friendship theme. http://verdevivoverdechiaro.blogspot.ru/2015/11/dont-you-lose-him-samwise-gamgee.html
   Introduction of Strider (Aragorn), quotes from the book. http://verdevivoverdechiaro.blogspot.ru/2015/11/strider-iall-that-is-gold-does-not.html

I'd like to speak about my teacher

  His name's Alexandre Vashchenko, he taught the History of English and American literature to us (students) at the Institute.
  When I remember my years of studies the most favourite subjects appear to be those connected with literature, reading and culture.
  This professor's lectures were always so interesting. We (my twin sister and I) always wanted more of them: we wished the period had continued. I thought, such teachers reveal to you the world of literature, how nice it is to have such guides, especially when you know little about the world of literature and reading.
  What was also valuable and interesting about his lectures was that he traced symbolisms, connections (for instance, the repetition of symbols or similarities in the plot), tradition. He analyzed well.
  Probably it was him who taught me to trace connections, symbols, tradition, allusions. I might have been ready to take this, while he was reading a lecture -- it was often exciting, he's a good story-teller -- maybe I felt sort of self-identification with the points he made (like "This is it" and "That's what I need and like"), I enjoyed this I am grateful to this teacher, I learned from him.