January 27, 2003

Re: the Scouring of the Shire
Everett

A lot of people have posted recently on whether ot not the Scouring of the Shire should be in the movie, with the consensus being that it should not. This case is generally supported with two statements: we don't need to see how much the Hobbits have grown as a result of their journey, and it would make the movie too long.

Including the Scouring of the Shire may well make the movie too long, which would justify its removal, but to attempt to justify its removal by saying that we don't need to see just how much the Hobbits have grown is to understate the significance of the events that take place in the Scouring. The significance of the events in that chapter extend beyond beyond the displaying the growth of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, though that is certainly an important part of it, particularly Frodo's decision not to actively take part. However, this is not the priamry purpose of the chapter, nor necessarily a secondary purpose, as the growth of the Hobbits should be self evident. Instead, the Scouring serves to show how close the threat to the Shire actually was; to establish Sam, Merry and Pippin as leaders in the Shire; to show the unintended consequences of taking part in the War of the Ring; and to prove Elrond's premonition correct and bring about what Sam saw in the Mirror of Galadriel.

As regards showing the gravity of the situation facing the Shire, the Scouring of the Shire provides a justification for the Hobbits becoming involved. Frodo did not have to take the Ring to Mordor, nor even to Rivendell (indeed Sam, Merry and Pippin would have been even more justified in not going along). However, he believed, on the word of Gandalf, that the presence of the Ring in the Shire, indeed its very existence, was a threat to it, and he took it upon himself to bear the Ring, first to Rivendell, and then to Mount Doom for the sake the free peoples everywhere, but mostly for the preservation of that which he held dear. That the Shire is still so nearly destroyed and subjected to the tyranny of Saruman and his ruffians (a lesser tyranny than that which would have been imposed by Sauron), despite the destruction of the Ring, is proof that Frodo made the right choice.

However, the Scouring also provides an indictment of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. The actions taken by the Hobbits lead to the overrunning of the Shire by Saruman and his lackeys. Specifically, the defeat of Saruman, brought about in great measure by Merry and Pippin (they do, after all, provide the impetus which finally gets the Ents mad enough to do something), and as an act of revenge, Saruman sets his lackeys about ravaging the Shire. This is not to say that the Hobbits are somehow responsible for the actions of Saruman, but it illustrates the unintended consequences and risks which attended the war and which are a part of all wars. The Hobbits set out on a dangerous quest that was an almost odd-on guarantee to fail in order to preserve, first of all, the Shire that was so dear to them, and secondly the rest of the world, but there was a price for doing so beyond what happened to them personally, and the Scouring illustrates this as well. Ultimately, the Hobbits had to make a choice as to whether to take part in the war or try and ride it out. In the end, the choice they made was proven to be the correct one, but it had a cost greater than what they expected.

In addition, the Scouring of the Shire serves as a passing of the torch. As the story progresses, its focus shifts more from Frodo to Sam, and this is intentional. LOTR is part of an ongoing story, started in the Silmarillion and continued in the sequel that Tolkien started but never finished, as well as the Appendices. Frodo is, for the most part, the central focus of the story, really up until the encounter with Shelob, though Sam's perspective really starts to be presented with greater frequency in Ithilien. The Scouring removes Frodo from the story as a major player and places Sam, Merry and Pippin in their roles for the future. It is not an end, but a transition.

Finally, and least significantly, the Scouring serves as a fulfillment of had been previously foreshadowed. Elrond was reluctant to include Merry and Pippin in the Fellowship because, among other reasons, he had a premonition that the Shire was in some sort of danger, and he wanted to send Merry and Pippin to warn the Shire of the impending danger. Also, Sam had visions of what would happen in the Shire when he stared into the Mirror of Galadriel. I suspect that Galadriel also had some sort of idea as to what was going to happen to the Shire when she gave Sam the box with the soil and mallorn seed in it. Tolkien, paying great attention to deatil, was not one to let things such as this slip through the cracks of the plot.

Ultimately, I would be pleased if the Scouring of the Shire were included in ROTK, but as there has been nothing in the plots of either FOTR or TTT to suggest imminent danger to the Shire, it would make little sense to those who had not read the books. Therefore, I would have no problem if the Scouring of the Shire were not in the ROTK. The movie is going to be extermely long as is, especially because Saruman and Shelob still have to dealt with, in addition to some great battle scenes which could potentially put Helm's Deep to shame, not to mention Aragorn deciding he wants to become king and Elrond granting his assent to the marriage of Aragorn and Arwen. There is nothing mentioned above which makes it necessary for it to be included. PJ can get the major things right wihtout including events which take place a long time after a movie should end relative to the climax. The movie would probably be half-an-hour longer if it were included, thus making it a little too long.