Littlemanpoet
This refers back to your question about what had changed in Sam after he made the decision to put on the Ring.
I actually think the initial change in Sam's persona came not with the decision to accept the Ring, but earlier when he first believed Frodo to be dead. In this scene, for the first time in the book, Sam doesn't use the formal "Mr. Frodo" but shifts to simply "Frodo" instead: "Frodo, me dear, me dear." Sam will shift back to the more deferential form after rescuing his master, but the underlying change in his attitudes and actions remains.
This change in naming is symbolic of themes developed in ensuing pages. First, as the name itself implies, Frodo and Sam come into a more equal relationship. Sam makes more decisions on his own, the act of taking the Ring being the first example. In fact, as events unfold, it will be Sam who must take the main initiatives as they approach Mount Doom. This is very different from their earlier relationship. In the Fellowship, Sam had been more the simple servant; in the beginning of the TTT, he had been the sometimes aggressive watchdog, but one who was always submissive to the will of Frodo. For the first time in the story, he is alone and independent.
Sam's new maturity and status is reflected in several motifs. First, he comes to the realization that he is not putting himself forward to take the Ring. Just like Frodo, he is not the one choosing, but the one chosen. He renounces the temptation to use the Ring as his own. And when he returns, the Orcs acknowledge his elevated status, perceiving him as a great Elf warrior. He flings his defiance against the shadows, singing a song of hope: "I will not say the Day is done, or bid the Stars farewell."
As Frodo weakens in the final pages of the book, Sam continues to act in a more independent mode, taking on all practical decisions. Their friendship, however, raised to a new level of equality, intensifies. Physically and spiritually, they are closer than ever before.
But it is the final confrontation of Sam and Gollum which shows how far the Hobbit has come. Frodo is too wrapped up in his own misery to act as a teacher or an ameliorating force for Sam as he had constantly done before. Sam has grown up, is on his own, and must decide what to do about that pest Gollum.
Twice before Sam was in a critical situation and made what appears to be a wrong decision. First, he had driven off Gollum when the latter had tried to touch the sleeping Frodo's knee, and thus ended all hope of repentence. Second, in the spider's lair, hate had led Sam to turn aside and spend time trying to kill Gollum, rather than returning immediately to his master. This had given Shelob the chance to attack Frodo in what appeared to be a mortal fashion.
Now, Sam faces the final test, utterly alone because Frodo has passed beyond all human dimension. And this time, he succeeds. Though his speech is hardly poetic, his choice is the right one as he lets Gollum escape:
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Oh, curse you, you stinking thing!" he said. "Go away! Be off! I don't trust you , not as far as I could kick you,; but be off. Or I shall hurt you, yes with nasty cruel steel."
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Sam has grown up; he no longer needs Frodo as moral compass or anchor. He is ready to return to the Shire and travel his own road, just as Frodo, who had appeared so Elven even to Sam as he lay in Shelob's lair, will also have a different path to follow. It is so ironic that here, at the time of their greatest drawing together, the foundation has been laid for the maturity which will now enable and even demand that they pull apart. sharon, the 7th age hobbit