When Frodo is finally reunited with Sam, the wine flows right? Wrong! Frodo recognizes the quest has failed, because, as Frodo explains, they took everything. Everything!
Not everything, Sam replies excitedly. We have the ring after all, Mr. Frodo!
Is Frodo excited about Sam's revelation? (Maybe a thank you Sam for saving it (and me) is in order? How about just a simple "Nice job, man"?)
Nope. In return for Sam's valiant efforts, Frodo calls Sam a thief and demands the return of the ring. But Sam is reluctant. Not out of anger at Mr. Frodo. Not because of a desire to claim the ring for his own. But because he purportedly felt that he did not want to burden Frodo with it again.
The ambiguity of Sam's reluctance to return the ring is a powerful moment in the story. What is going on here? Would Sam have been a better Ring-bearer? Or is the Ring toying with Sam? (As the reader knows, Gandalf himself admitted he would wield the ring out of a desire to do good, but the Ring inevitably would corrupt him.) Probably the latter. You see Sam being seduced like everyone else; the Ring is merely playing off of Sam's penchant for helping others. Sam just can't see it. We can. Brilliant.
Of course, what would a chapter be without watchers at the Gate? Now that the mini-quest is done, the hobbits have to escape with their boon. With a little bit of elf-mumbo-jumbo, out they go. After all, we've got to make use of that magical artifact provided by Galadriel somehow, right?
There's more going on here than just on the surface. Tolkien makes his language carry weight thematically and in terms of plot. I'll give two examples. First, Frodo has achieved death and rebirth within the hero's journey. At this point, the reader has watched Frodo die and become reborn . According to Campbell, the reader should now completely relate to Frodo and identify with him. (Perhaps there's something to that theory after all, as I certainly feel sympathy for what Frodo has been through and continue to root for him.) However, as an interesting twist, Frodo's death and rebirth does not result in a Christ-like or other demi-god hero. Instead, Frodo is even worse off. In fact, this scene foreshadows Frodo's transformation into a mini-villain. We take this for granted now, of course, but Tolkien's novel capturing the slow descent of Frodo into villain-dom is masterful.
Second, the mithril coat deserves honorable mention. In the previous scene, the Mouth of Sauron shows that the free world's position is truly hopeless. The orc's escape with the mithril coat adds a nice tie-up to that particular sub-plot, showing that the alliance is not necessarily fighting in vain. It's up to Frodo and Sam now. Can they do it? We shall see.
As Ben argued, it's almost like Book VI is what Tolkien actually wanted to write all along, and Book V is just him figuring out all the connective tissue (and largely failing at it).
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