Lord of the Vocations, Part IV: Intro to Samwise

Frodo: "Frodo Baggins is my name, and this is Samwise Gamgee."
Faramir: "Your bodyguard?"
Sam: "His gardener!"
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What a beautiful summary of Sam’s vocation in LOTR! Sam is both a gardener by trade– Frodo’s gardener– as well as Frodo’s companion and helper on the quest. And at the risk of making an obvious or even cheesy observation, one could say that gardening in a metaphorical sense is Sam’s personality. Gardeners make things fruitful, make things grow, keep things alive, and root out the weeds; this is what Sam does for Frodo. Gollum he regards (not without reason) as a destructive weed, nothing more than a threat to his master and worthy of eradication as soon as possible. This detail is Sam’s one flaw. But more on Sam’s vocations...

Sam is of course a wonderful character, an example of ultimate friendship. He is loyal to Frodo not only as a friend, but as one is loyal to a beloved employer and superior. Sam– especially "book Sam"– is a servant, and his vocation of servanthood is clear and rampant throughout the story. But let’s not forget why Sam came on the quest in the first place. He was a nosy gardener! He was sad to hear that Frodo was going away, but he kept eavesdropping because Gandalf was talking about the Elves. Sam loves stories about the Elves, and, not quite realizing the danger at this point, he basically just asks to come along for the sake of some Elf-sighting! But this changes shortly after they set out. Sam realizes that being Frodo’s companion will mean a different kind of job– a vocation that at first, he can’t yet put his finger on.

‘Do you feel any need to leave the Shire now– not that your wish to see [elves] has come true already?’ [Frodo] asked.
‘Yes, sir. I don’t know how to say it, but after last night I feel different. I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can’t turn back. It isn’t to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want– I don’t rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me.’ –"A Short Cut to Mushrooms"

To carry on the with gardening theme, consider Galadriel’s testing of Sam in Lorien. The first thing that happens is that in the minds of the members of the fellowship "each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others" ("The Mirror of Galadriel"). Sam is the only one brave enough to tell the others his temptation: ‘She seemed to be looking inside me and asking me what I would do if she gave me the chance of flying back home to the Shire to a nice little hole with– with a bit of garden of my own.’ Don’t miss the temptation– Sam is Frodo’s gardener. His temptation is to forsake his vocation as servant to be his own master. His temptation is to forsake the hard task of looking after Frodo, seeing it through, and to rather live for himself. This is not unlike the temptation that Eowyn eventually succumbs to.

Galadriel also tests Sam’s steadfastness when he looks in the mirror and sees some of the events that are currently happening in the Shire. Sam sees a hobbit’s worst gardening nightmare: the beautiful trees are being felled, ugly buildings are being put up, and black smoke is everywhere. His vocation as Shire citizen and gardener is crying out to him to do something about it, vying with his loyalty to Frodo:

‘I can’t stay here,’ he said wildly. ...‘I must go home!’
‘You cannot go home alone,’ said the Lady. ‘You did not wish to go home without your master before you looked into the Mirror, and yet you knew that evil things might well be happening in the Shire... the Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds.’
Sam sat on the ground and put his head in his hands... After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with tears. ‘No, I’ll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or not at all,’ he said.

It is in Lorien that Frodo realizes that his friends are in mortal danger not only from without, but from within. If Frodo stays with them, the Ring will destroy them, one by one, as it does Boromir. They cannot bear the temptation, and so Frodo decides (as he does when he decides to leave the Shire) that he must now set off alone. Sam causes him to see that there is yet room in the plan for Frodo to have a companion-- that in fact he needs one-- and that Sam's calling is providential, meant to be.
'So all my plain is spoilt!' said Frodo. 'It is no good trying to escape you. But I'm glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. Come along! It is plain that we were meant to go together. We will go, and may the others find a safe road! Strider will look after them. I don't suppose we shall see them again.'
'Yet we may, Mr. Frodo. We may,' said Sam ("The Breaking of the Fellowship").

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I'm afraid I'll have to finish the thoughts with another posts... there's just way too much to say!! Consider this Part i. of Part IV!