Chapter 7: Journey to the Cross-Roads
What actually happens in this chapter?
Faramir sends them off, then disappears back into the wood as though it were a dream; Gollum resumes guiding them some more through Mordor, almost without missing a beat, as though the Faramir episode never happened, didn't matter. I'm guessing it will matter more later, but Faramir's dreamlike departure doesn't do much to establish what the necessity or point of this little detour into the world of Men was (though, as we've already discussed, he's a far more pleasant character to spend time with than Tom Bombadil--though, like Tom, Tolkien doesn't seem to know much what to do with him, either, sadly).
Samwise dreams of the Shire going to seed (no doubt a subtle foreshadowing of the homecoming in Book VI) then wakes up, more forlorn than ever (a much needed humanizing touch for Samwise after the needlessly cruel way he's been treating Gollum lately).
A storm appears to be brewing (I'm assuming this is chronologically concurrent with the Battle of Helm's Deep in Book III).
Frodo is fatalistic, and increasingly opaque to both Samwise and us as readers (Samwise became our reader-substitute in place of Frodo so gradually that I hardly noticed).
Gollum wakes them up in a panic to get out of the way of the coming troops. They come to the cross-roads and see a vision foreshadowing the Return of the King.
All important details and proper character moments and nice foreshadowing. Nevertheless, that is all, apparently, that happened in this chapter.
I've been using the descriptor "table-setting" for a few chapters in a row now, and frankly, I'm getting tired of finding new ways to say it. My distant, childhood memories of reading this text reassure me that this all pays off soon, and the glacial pace of events in Book IV is almost Hitchcockian in how it keeps ratcheting up the tension, so as to ensure the bigger pay-off; and Tolkien's description itself is also lush enough to be a delight in and of itself to explore, even if Mordor is such a forlorn and depressing place to inhabit, so I feel a tad churlish to complain; nevertheless, this endless teetering between tension and tedium is a balancing-act that Tolkien has been playing all this series long, and I'm starting to strum my fingers a bit--and though I think he has far better command of that balance now than he did at, say, "The Old Forest," I kinda wish he would cease playing these balancing acts altogether. We all identified places in Book III that could have used some trimming and pruning, and I feel like those same tendencies are starting to show this late in Book IV too. I would like Tolkien to quit setting up the chess pieces and finally make some gambits, so to speak.
Ben's Thoughts (2/2/16)
Jacob's certainly right -- not a lot happens in this chapter. Thankfully, it's quite short. I also agree that some of the descriptions of walking and creeping through brush and wood could have been trimmed, with the exit of the army from Minas Morgul, coming in the next chapter, being combined into this stuff. Thematically, it would make sense, with the gathering darkness, the anticipation of Sauron's next move, and ultimately the release of his armies. As it is, there's just a lot of walking and some mystery about what Gollum is up to, when he leaves the hobbits and scouts around. Even with that, though, he can't be up to too much naughtiness -- he's certainly not hobnobbing with orcs and he'd have to go all the way up the stairs we'll encounter in the next chapter to chat with the "She" that we will encounter soon. So he must just be gathering intel about the waiting army behind the gates of the city. Nothing too groundbreaking or character-building.
I have to disagree with Jacob's assessment of Faramir as a pointless interlude, because if I recall, it pays off big time in the Denethor vs. Gandalf struggle in the next book. I think Tolkien did well by the character in these three chapters: he introduced him well, drawing parallels to Aragorn, Boromir, and Gandalf, all three, in his characterization; he presented a conflict and resolved the conflict within the arc of the three chapters (although I did note my concerns with that conflict in the last post); sets up further conflict between our central trio that stands until the end of this book; and finally, sends the character on his way, to resurface with characterization intact in the next book. Mission accomplished, I'd say. Of course, I do have a certain fondness for Faramir, but I think overall it was handled well and moved the plot forward.
A quick note on the timeline: Frodo and Sam have now advanced further that Aragorn and Pals had at the end of Book III. Gandalf and Saruman's confrontation is contiguous with Frodo and Sam at the Morannon; the Black Rider that flies above them, heading west, in that chapter is the same Nazgul that passes overhead in "The Palantir" and spurs Gandalf to take Pippin to Minas Tirith. The darkening skies and the "Dawnless Day" seen in this chapter will be revisited from the point of view of the other characters in Book V.
Jacob is ready for some action, and I am as well. Fortunately the next three chapters are full of more interesting stuff for us to dig into. Looking forward to it. "Stairs" is the final climb to the top of the roller-coaster, and the final two chapters are the last plunge to the end of the book.
Eric's Thoughts (5/13/16)
This chapter could have been trimmed.
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