Still
working mainly off the movie canon, though I’m planning to start rereading The Hobbit and the trilogy in the fall,
so write-ups of those will be coming eventually. Merry and Pippin bring so much joy and life
to the early part of the quest for the Ring, and I really enjoy watching them
grow, separately and together, in the second half of the story (some
Merry-Pippin-related spoilers.)
Partners
in crime from the first, Merry and Pippin have both a knack and a relish for
getting into trouble. In the films, we first
meet them raiding Gandalf’s fireworks, and they sort of accidentally get swept
up in Frodo and Sam’s initial journey to Bree – they’re pilfering crops from a
local farmer when they run into Frodo and Sam, and it’s in the ensuing flight
from said farmer that they encounter the Nazgûl, upon which they decide to
accompany their friends. That penchant
for trouble has a habit of following them around, especially in the first
film. Whether it’s an ill-timed snack or
Pippin’s insatiable curiosity, they can stumble into making any situation
worse. It’s a fair question to ask why
they’re allowed on the quest at all, because early on, it’s hard to see what
they bring to the table.
But while
Sam’s loyalty and devotion to Frodo rightfully gets top billing, Merry and Pippin’s
are nothing to scoff at, either. These
are two lively troublemakers who happen upon a band of deadly wraiths, having
previously known nothing about the Ring or Frodo’s mission, and they
immediately fall in to help Frodo, their friend and Pippin’s cousin. Once they make that decision, they get a bit
caught in the action and basically have to stay with Frodo until Rivendell,
because the Nazgûl are now after them as well, but it’s still a decision they
make, and when they are in Rivendell
and have a chance to go back home, they don’t take it.
It’s not
entirely clear why. There’s their
loyalty and wanting to help (or “help,” as the case sometimes is.) Their rather unhobbit-like sense of
excitement and adventure. Not wanting to
be left out. The answer is probably a
mixture of all three and other reasons besides, but regardless, they’re allowed
to officially join the fellowship. But
it’s not long before their journey diverges from Frodo’s, and from the others as
well. Their involvement in The Two Towers is probably the least
interesting. Once they escape from the
orcs, they’re shunted off into their own plot away from everyone else, but it’s
a plot where, mostly, nothing happens.
Off with Treebeard, they start to gain a little perspective on their adventure
– the real cost of the danger, their feeling of futility at being away from
their friends and wanting to help them but not knowing how, and the question of
whether they belong out there at all.
But where
things really pick up is in The Return of
the King, where circumstances separate them. Up until now, they’ve always been a unit, and it’s really interesting to see both them
and their relationship when they’re apart.
It’s Pippin’s fault that they have to separate, with Gandalf taking him
to Gondor for safekeeping after he pokes his nose where he shouldn’t and puts
himself in danger, and Merry shows his first moment of real maturity when he
scolds Pippin for being so reckless.
Although the last thing either of them wants is to leave the other, it
has a tremendous effect on both their characters. Without the other around to lean on, goad
them, or enable them, both are forced to figure out how to stand on their
own. Pippin offers his service to
Denethor and later helps Faramir in a vital way, while Merry discovers his
bravery by riding into battle with the Rohirim.
After doing some growing up and facing some terrible things by
themselves, however, it’s all the more satisfying to see Pippin and Merry find
each other again on the battleground, as fond of each other as ever but both
changed by their individual experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment