Otherness

In class we have been talking a lot about how characters from our books are isolated and ultimately stand alone from the rest of society. Characters like Emily from “A Rose for Emily”, Bartleby from “Bartleby the Scrivner” and Victor from “Because My Father…” all share common identities of being alone in their own way. Trying to apply these characters from class to outside literature, I made the connection that Frodo from "The Lord of the Rings" has a lot in common with the characters from class. Frodo is isolated from the rest of the fellowship when he is bestowed ring bearer. Although he is not physically alone most of the time (mostly accompanied by Samwise Gamgee, Gollum or the rest of the fellowship) he does isolate himself in the way that only he thinks he's the only person who can destroy the one ring. This ultimately turns Frodo into a greedy, selfish individual that turns on his friend Sam. Mr. Gamgee could be compared to Latika in Slumdog Millionaire. Latika is separated from Salim and Jamal, but is still present in the mind of Jamal throughout the movie and is his grounding example of what the past was once like. She, much like Sam does to Frodo, gives Jamal hope during dark times. Sam and Latika are two individuals that ground and connect the “others” back into solidarity and companionship.