Very cool! I think your analysis of the relationship between Frodo and Merry is right on. (I personally, don't feel inclined to slash any of them, but from a more platonic perspective, I'm with you all the way.)
I agree that pre-Quest Merry and Frodo are closer than Frodo and Sam. Merry seems to have been Frodo's best friend up to that time. They grew up in the same household until Merry was seven and Frodo twenty-one and up to that time, were probably raised more or less as brothers. They are both only children (unusual in the Shire), which might also have brought them closer to each other. I also think their personalities are similar: both tend somewhat toward studiousness and introversion, again, rather unusual in the Shire.
The Quest, it seems to me, involves Frodo's pulling away from Merry toward Sam, and Merry's pulling away from Frodo toward Pippin. By the time they all get home, Frodo and Sam are closer, and Merry and Pippin are closer. While the relationships that develop between Frodo and Sam and Merry and Pippin are beautiful, I think there is a sub-textual sadness in the loss of primary closeness between Frodo and Merry. It's very realistic too: life really does pull us away from certain people and towards others in just that subtle way.
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Date: 2005-12-27 04:03 am (UTC)I agree that pre-Quest Merry and Frodo are closer than Frodo and Sam. Merry seems to have been Frodo's best friend up to that time. They grew up in the same household until Merry was seven and Frodo twenty-one and up to that time, were probably raised more or less as brothers. They are both only children (unusual in the Shire), which might also have brought them closer to each other. I also think their personalities are similar: both tend somewhat toward studiousness and introversion, again, rather unusual in the Shire.
The Quest, it seems to me, involves Frodo's pulling away from Merry toward Sam, and Merry's pulling away from Frodo toward Pippin. By the time they all get home, Frodo and Sam are closer, and Merry and Pippin are closer. While the relationships that develop between Frodo and Sam and Merry and Pippin are beautiful, I think there is a sub-textual sadness in the loss of primary closeness between Frodo and Merry. It's very realistic too: life really does pull us away from certain people and towards others in just that subtle way.