At the beginning of the Lord of the Rings, Merry and Pippin almost seem like one unit, as they are always very close to one another and because of their similar personalities, often get themselves into trouble. But, as we later see, they can also work pretty well together, and make difficult choices as we see in their escape from.
It is strange to see that they do not remain together in Book 5, and instead go two separate places, Pippin goes to Minas Tirith with Gandalf, while Merry goes to Helm's Deep with Aragorn. At first, it seems that they will now have to take very separate paths, but Tolkien decides to include the parallel of the Hobbits offering up their swords. To Denethor, Pippin offers his sword to Gondor in service and gratitude. To Théoden, Merry offers his sword to the service of Rohan.
I think its a very good choice that Tolkien made to include this parallel. In not only shows the strength of merry and Pippins bond, but also their good intended nature as Hobbits (still intact after their experiences. Both of these things help them succeed later on as they led the army in the scouring of the Shire. Even though Merry and Pippin go through a lot of changes, the fact that they maintain their bond is essential to making their changes for the better.
Merry and Pippin do strike me as candidates for the "Dynamic Duo" award of The Lord of the Rings, so as you note, their separation in Book 5 is interesting. I would like to expand on your parallel of both hobbits offering their swords and service to the rulers of Gondor and Rohan. Theoden tells Merry he cannot join the Muster since he would act only as a burden, but Merry goes anyway and plays a heroic role in the slaying of the Witch-King.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, Denethor relieves Pippin of his service as the Siege of Gondor wages on, but the hobbit stays loyal to Faramir and finds Gandalf, and together they heroically save the man's life.
I suppose I've perceived the parallels between the two in these scenes but never really considered them much deeper. Thank you for this very illuminating post!
I really feel that Tolkien choosing to have Merry and Pippin split up and go two different places really allows them to grow more as characters than they would otherwise. For most of the Fellowship (and even most of Two Towers), they give me a very "Fred and George" vibe - they are around the same age (although I did have to look this up, Merry was 37 at the start of Fellowship and Pippin was 29), and even though Pippin is underage for a hobbit (and Merry is an adult), they still are often treated as the kids of the group. The real-world comparison I could draw is with twins - when they stay together sometimes they stay very similar, whereas when they move to different places/go to different schools, they are able to grow into more than just half of a pair. This is a bit simplistic I think (especially for Tolkien!), but I do think it would have been harder for Merry and Pippin to fully grow and become who they are at the end of the tale if both had traveled with Theoden. They do have those similarities still (pledging service as we'd talked about in class) but their character arcs are much stronger when Tolkien decided to split them apart in book 5.
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