Victory of the Small over the Mighty
One of the big themes of The Lord of the rings is “Victory of the Small over the Mighty”. It is seen in this quote, said by Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring;
“Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: Small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.”
The four hobbits; Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin though small, each in their own way they turn the wheels of the world. They all show the theme, “Victory of the Small over the Mighty”.
Frodo showed this theme in his defeating of Sauron. His small and seemingly insignificance helped him slip under the guard of the Dark Lord. This brought about the whole climax of the tale. It nearly seems impossible for one of so little power to defeat him, yet that is exactly what happens. Frodo also shows the theme again in the final defeat of Saruman. In the end Saruman is robbed of his triumph through Frodo’s pity.
Sam too shows how small people can have great influence on the way things turn out. Without Sam, Frodo would never have reached Mordor alive let alone the top of Mount Doom. Some people argue that the humble gardener Samwise Gamgee is the real hero. He makes the mighty Shelob flee and rescues his master from the clutches of the orcs, his small hands turning the wheels of the world just as Frodo did.
Pippin and Merry seem to be two small unimportant creatures but they succeed in rousing the Ents. Then the Ents go on to destroy Isengard; bringing about the beginning of Saruman’s downfall, and the destruction of great armies of orcs. Merry made it possible for Éowyn to kill the Witch-king of Angmar during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, by stabbing him behind his unseen knee. Then in the Battle of the Morannon, Pippin kills a troll king or at least some very large important one.
These four small hobbits then return home, no hobbit there realizes just how much they have done. Yet without the acts of these hobbits Middle Earth would be a different place and the darkness may have overcome all, but it didn’t the small people had victory over the mighty.
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