LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 03 - Three Is Company

[Aiwendil]

Bethberry wrote:

To be honest, I don't like one small point in Sam's characterisation, his constantly using "sir" to speak to Frodo and Pippin. I understand of course how the story itself will wipe away that class distinction--and perhaps for that very reason Tolkien chose to have Sam use the title of respect for "higher ups"--but to me it is an uncomfortable mark of life in The Shire.

I agree and disagree.

I don't like class distinctions. I think that they're wrong. I think that the Shire is wrong to maintain them, just as so many real countries are wrong to maintain them.

But let's not confuse a moral evaluation with an evaluation of characterization. The fact is that class distinctions exist in the Shire, so Sam's use of "sir" is an accurate bit of characterization. Indeed, it would feel quite false if Sam did not show some degree of deference to Frodo and Pippin.