We begin to realize how sick the land of Mordor
is within chapter 2 of book IV. Frodo, Sam, and Gollum walk, march, crawl,
climb, and do whatever is necessary to keep moving toward the distant black
mountains, with Gollum (who knows the way) in the lead. This arrangement isn’t
a relaxing one for any of them, and Sam is especially wary, worried that one
day he and Frodo are going to both fall asleep at the same time and end up
dinner for their twisted companion-guide. Frodo, who made Gollum swear by the
ring (by it, not on it, as he is too wise to let Gollum have even a look at it)
doesn’t believe Gollum would be that treacherous, but he doesn’t trust him
either.
The Dead Marshes are both dead in the sense that little or
nothing can grow there (Tolkien’s sense of evil leading to environmental
devastation continues to be a clear theme, and one that feels hugely informed
by his battlefield experiences in WWI) and because they are literally filled
with the dead. Sam is horrified to discover that dead faces lurk beneath the
waters of the marshes, the corpses lit by candles, as though the whole place
was some strange natural morgue. The surreal landscape exhibits an odd,
dream-like sort of lure on travelers, trying to bring them down to the underworld,
and Frodo seems highly susceptible to that lure, struggling not to look at the
lights.
S. immediately thought of the “inferi” in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(remember the cave scene with Dumbledore) and she kept spotting other JKR debts
to Tolkien as we went forward, including the fact that Frodo wears the ring on
a chain around his neck and feels it as a heavy weight, the closer they get to
Mordor and its master. “It’s like the horcrux locket!” she cried. If anyone
ever had any doubt that JKR knows and loves Tolkien, step right this
way…Rowling is clearly stirring in the same story-cauldron.
Poor Frodo. He is such a strong but gentle soul, and we
begin to feel the burden with him as he labors on to what he believes is almost
certain destruction, determined to keep faith with those who tasked him with
this impossible quest. It’s horrifying to realize just how pinned down he feels
by “the Eye.” He knows that Sauron is always looking, looking for the Ring.
Gollum feels it too, Tolkien tells us, having borne the Ring for such a long
time himself. He may not feel it to the extent that Frodo feels it, but so much
of Mordor’s darkness is already a part of Gollum that we want to weep for him.
Sam alone is oblivious to the full weight of Mordor’s
darkness, though he feels enough of it to realize what it’s doing to his
beloved master Frodo. I am always so thankful for Sam: ordinary, hearty, stubborn,
practical, and able to “stay on task” in a way that Frodo, bearing the full
burden, can’t. You somehow get the sense that Sam is protected from the evil
around him, not just by the simplicity and loyalty of his heart, but because he
is able to think about the small things that have to be done, like finding food
and watching Gollum and making sure that Frodo stays on his feet or gets some
rest.
The chapter ends with the bizarre conversation that
Gollum/Smeagol has with himself, arguing over whether or not to betray the
hobbits and steal back his “precious,” or whether to remain loyal. We get a
hint that there’s an ominous but unknown to us female figure who might factor
into any betrayal. It’s a brilliant bit of story-telling and characterization and
fascinating to read aloud. I enjoyed switching off the different voices that I
use for his two personas, though the Gollum one is so deep and raspy it hurts
my throat if I use it for long.
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