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Old 04-17-2002, 09:28 PM   #133
Birdland
Ghastly Neekerbreeker
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: the banks of the mighty Scioto
Posts: 1,757
Birdland has just left Hobbiton.
Sting

Sam subconciously hated Gollum because Gollum reminded him of his father, the "Gaffer".

I mean, let's look at this. Both Gollum and Gaffer were masters at whining and passive aggressiveness. Both were prone to heaping verbal abuse on Sam., "Nasty" may have sounded very like "Ninnyhammer" to poor Sam.

This abuse seemed to be offered particularly whenever Sam was trying to be nice or do something for Gollum. This is a favorite tactic of the aging parent against a child acting as caregiver.

Let's face it. Hamfast was probably no day at the beach, parentally speaking. Consider that Sam's two older brother's got out of the house as soon as they could, leaving Sam holding the "Bag End", so to speak. Sam even suggests in FOTR that he would have preferred to go into the rope making business, but probably became a gardener out of a misplaced sense of guilt.

So Sam's rage at Gollum was actually his rage at his own father, redirected at a more socially acceptable target. When Sam drew his sword and threatened to kill Gollum, it was the face of the Gaffer that he was seeing. And it wasn't just pity that stayed his hand, but a deeply buried fear that he would be commiting patricide.

(Hmmmmm, I wonder if this is actually a "wrong" answer? [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] )

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When Sam released Bill at the Gates of Moria, did he go straight home to Bree?
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