Quote:
"They seem above my likes and dislikes, so to speak," answered Sam slowly. "It don't seem to matter what I think about them. Thye are quite different from what I expected - so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were."
Frodo looked at Sam rather startled, half expecting to see some outward sign of the odd change that seemed to have come over him. It did not sound like the voice of the old Sam Gamgee that he thought he knew. But it looked like the old Sam Gamgee sitting there, except that his face was unusually thoughtful.
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I think that this is an interesting insight into Sam's true character - the whole conversation is, really. Like Frodo, this is a side of Sam's personality that we have not really seen. He shows great perception of the Elves, and we see that he is a 'deeper' character than we had been led to believe. (He had been saying farewell to the beer barrel...)
Another thing that struck me was how young and inexperienced Pippin seemed, both in this chapter and the last one, though I did not really notice it until this one. He speaks very lightly of the Black Riders, he goes out singing on the grass while Frodo eats, and is on the whole a very jovial and light-hearted character. Even though he is a part of the 'Conspiracy' as we later find out, he still does not understand the danger of the Black Riders (even less than Frodo) and the seriousness of Frodo's plight.
One final trivial thing: I don't think I ever really understood that it was raining as they cut cross-country from Woodhall to Farmer Maggot's property. It sets a much different tone than if it was, say, sunny.