Thursday, November 4, 2010

Character Connection: Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings


For a Character Connection post today, I wanted to highlight one of my all time favorite characters:


Samwise Gamgee 
from The Lord of the Rings
(portrayed here by Sean Astin)


I only read these books a few years ago back when the movies came out. I think I've said before, I just hadn't gotten around to them before that, and after that first movie, I read all three before the second one came out. I went into them thinking it was all about Frodo, I mean he IS the hero of this story, right?

Wrong. By the end, I knew that Sam was far and away the definite hero. I don't think there's a single other literary character that can match him in loyalty, faithfulness, steadfastness and pure courage. He is amazing. I love him with all my heart.

There are many many scenes depicted in the movies (taken straight from the books) that prove this, but my all time favorite one, the one that gives me chills and makes me weepy every time, is this one from the very end of the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring:



Do you have a character crush you'd like to share with us? Head on over to Jen's at The Introverted Reader and link up!

By the way, speaking of favorites and hobbits and crushes, did you hear that Richard Armitage is playing the dwarf leader, Thorin, in the new Hobbit movie?  What think you of that people? :)

5 comments:

  1. Oh, I love Sam, too. He's allowed to shine, I think, because he's not the central focus of the story, but instead the backbone.

    And I'm not sure how it'll all work out with Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield -- it's been so long since I've read The Hobbit -- but it'll definitely be interesting.

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  2. I am so with you on loving Samwise. He's one of my favorites, along with Faramir (who was essentially slaughtered in the movies). I agree with Melissa in that it's because they are not the main focus of the story.

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  3. We stumbled onto a theme of loyalty this week!

    I never quite finished reading the trilogy (I got bored with the amount of detail when I tried to read them in high school, and just can't bring myself to try them again), but I do love these movies. That is such a touching scene. The whole thing would have failed without Sam and his unconditional love and loyalty.

    I was going to stop the clip after Sam's part was over, then Aragorn came onscreen and I just had to keep watching. I am in love with him.

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  4. love Sam, too... and I also was surprised that Sam was as much a hero as (if not more than)Frodo. we are reading the Two Towers aloud with the daughter (three chapters to go) and I had noticed how much of the narrative is dominated by Sam's pov... he is wonderful. I thought Astin did a good job with him in the film.

    ~L

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