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Happy Bilbo and Frodo's Birthday
Sep. 22nd, 2010 04:48 pmIt's that time again. My LOTR thought for the day:
Frodo (for a hobbit) is quite socially isolated. He's unusual in being an only child and was orphaned, I believe, at twelve. Aside from Lotho, to whom he is not close, he is far the youngest of his genealogical generation and is several years older than the following generation (Merry and Pippin's). He grew up in Brandy Hall with many relatives but may have felt like a bit of an outsider as the only Baggins in a warren of Brandybucks. He, then, had a close family unit with Bilbo for about twelve years, which is the nearest thing he ever has to a day-to-day life partnership. Then Bilbo left, and Frodo lived on his own for seventeen years.
Now, throughout all of this, he always surrounded by family and friends and generally well liked if viewed as slightly queer (you know what I mean). He lived in close-knit neighborhoods, certainly saw the Gamgees frequently (via gardening at Bag End if nothing else) and hung out with Merry, Pippin, and Fatty Bolger when they grew up a bit. Still, compared to most hobbits' primary relationships with parents, siblings, spouses, children, he is a little peripheral to his friends' and family's lives.
I wonder how much this contributes to his decision to leave the Shire at the end of the book. Certainly, the War/the Ring is the principal motivator, but I find it interesting that he chooses to go with Bilbo, the relative he has lived with most closely. With Sam, Merry, and Pippin integrating back into the Shire with families/adult responsibilities of their own, Frodo might easily become unmoored. Socially, not much holds him there.
(But hopefully he and Bilbo had many happy birthdays in the Undying Lands.)
Frodo (for a hobbit) is quite socially isolated. He's unusual in being an only child and was orphaned, I believe, at twelve. Aside from Lotho, to whom he is not close, he is far the youngest of his genealogical generation and is several years older than the following generation (Merry and Pippin's). He grew up in Brandy Hall with many relatives but may have felt like a bit of an outsider as the only Baggins in a warren of Brandybucks. He, then, had a close family unit with Bilbo for about twelve years, which is the nearest thing he ever has to a day-to-day life partnership. Then Bilbo left, and Frodo lived on his own for seventeen years.
Now, throughout all of this, he always surrounded by family and friends and generally well liked if viewed as slightly queer (you know what I mean). He lived in close-knit neighborhoods, certainly saw the Gamgees frequently (via gardening at Bag End if nothing else) and hung out with Merry, Pippin, and Fatty Bolger when they grew up a bit. Still, compared to most hobbits' primary relationships with parents, siblings, spouses, children, he is a little peripheral to his friends' and family's lives.
I wonder how much this contributes to his decision to leave the Shire at the end of the book. Certainly, the War/the Ring is the principal motivator, but I find it interesting that he chooses to go with Bilbo, the relative he has lived with most closely. With Sam, Merry, and Pippin integrating back into the Shire with families/adult responsibilities of their own, Frodo might easily become unmoored. Socially, not much holds him there.
(But hopefully he and Bilbo had many happy birthdays in the Undying Lands.)
