Throughout the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien inserts small moments in scenes that seem inconsequential and never lead to much of anything important in his narrative.
For example, when the Fellowship is leaving Bree, Sam tosses an apple he was chewing at Bill Ferny. Look at this passage and try to figure out why Tolkien bothered to insert this tiny scene. What is its purpose in the overall story? What does Tolkien gain from adding it to the tale? What does it say about Sam? Why is it an apple and not a biscuit or a potato?
Can you think of any other tiny scenes that seem unnecessary to the plot, but which you could argue are important to Tolkien's work for other reasons?
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