It is easy to say that the thing that brings Frodo and Sam to the end of their journey is “Hope.” But there is something deeper going on. If Tolkien had simply gone to write a story about how hope brought his heroes through to the end of their journey, he would be one among many writers. What makes the hope of his characters interesting is the character of that hope. We might say that the interest lies in the particularity of that hope. The hobbits are hoping for something that is concrete. There is a vision that moves Frodo and Sam (Later only Sam) and works in them the possibility of destroying the ring.
Frodo and Sam have what some have called “a vision of the good.” They have an idea of what goodness looks like. It is the desire for the restoration of that goodness to Middle Earth which gives them the fortitude to accomplish their task. This is particularly evident in Sam. Through the approach to the land of Mordor, Sam’s mind continues to turn back to Hobbiton. He looks back to the happiness that is evident in that land. His mind is set on the beauty of that order. Sam would not express it in that way, but unconsciously his mind looks backward to Hobbiton so that he can move forward in the hope that he might return to that place.
Ultimately, his vision of the good is Hobbiton and the many happinesses that are involved in living in that land. What is interesting here is that it is the simple pleasures that excite his vision. Sam and Frodo remember the food, the strawberries, the beer and the pipeweed. They remember the laughter and the friendship with fellow hobbits. It is not a vision of final victory over Sauron, but a desire for a return to the happiness of a decidedly mundane and middle-class life that keeps hope alive in Sam. And in Frodo as well (although it is Sam who keeps this alive in Frodo).
In Chapter III of Book 6, Tolkien emphasizes how important this is. Sam and Frodo are at the foot of Mt. Doom and Sam’s mind is drawn back, not to Hobbiton, but a small, but delicious rabbit that they enjoyed just outside of the land of Mordor. It was a reminder of the joys of Hobbiton. Sam asks if Frodo remembers that rabbit stew.
Frodo responds, “No I am afraid not. At least, I know that such things happened, but I cannot see them. No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or stars are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades.”
Frodo’s inability to remember simple pleasure (along with the heaviness of the ring) impede his desire to continue. He needs Sam, his memories, and his hope, in order to cajole him into continuing his quest. Sam holds to those simple pleasures and that keeps his hope alive to the very end.
Now imagine if it were different. Imagine if grand pleasures informed their vision of the good. Imagine if they moments of great victory moved them. What if they loved glory? What if they desired most the praise of men, most of all? Those are the things that fly away first in the pit of despair. The simple pleasures of food, of fellowship, are much closer. They will be the last to go. But if Sam had despises these simple pleasures, what then?
This may be the reason that Hobbits are so special, that they are so resistant to the ring. They do not love grand pleasures. They love simple pleasures. That not only enables them to resist the ring, but it allows them to accomplish the greatest deeds of the 3rd age.