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Eruantalincë
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: December 31, 2004 12:43
Pippin gazed into the palantír and revealed some of Sauron's plans. A stupid action, maybe, but something the "wise" would not dare to do. Thanks to this action, Gandalf knew he had to go to Minas Tirith.

He also tried to save Faramir and when he did not succeed, he went back to find Gandalf.

Pippin did not do much? Well, not in the case of fighting, maybe. But he did some things which were very important.
they are both real independent characters
87% (5)
Merry is, but Pippin isn't
3% (2)
Pippin is, but Merry isn't
0% (0)
neither are independent: they just run along
8% (5)
I don't even know which one is Pip and which one is Merry!
0% (0)
foolofatook~
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: January 01, 2005 03:32
Everyone is ganging on me!!

Ok, so I forgot some of the important things Pippin did in the story. And don't forget, I haven't read all of the books yet, so I'm not exactly "in-the-know" of what every character did in the trilogy.

Secondly, yes....I shall now give (and actually, always have given) him GREAT respect....like it or not.

And thirdly, ok....he did alot. lol....

Forgive me. I did not see.
Eruantalincë
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: January 02, 2005 02:18
Well, I am not "ganging on you", I just try to explain that, although Pip seems to be very naive, he did learn something throughout the journey. His actions might not be **that** spectacular, but they were important for the storyline, both in book and movie. For me, that is one of the great point of views of the whole story: torn out of the familiar things to get into an adventure almost too big for (in this thread) those two, and come out mentally and physically grown.
foolofatook~
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: January 02, 2005 01:27
Exactly...that's what I meant. The same thing would probably happen to me if I went through something like that for a year...

Thanks for not "ganging" on me by the way.
foolofatook~
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: January 06, 2005 02:33
Oh NOW I see what you mean. I just read Chapter 11, "The Palantir", in "The Two Towers". Ok...I get it. I feel so bad now! Sorry Pippin....
hobbitnamedeliza
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: January 08, 2005 06:55
Rosie T.--I absolutely agree with you!

ROTK is, in many ways, Pippin's "coming of age story." When Pippin tells Merry, "No, Merry, I'm going to take care of you." the story has come full circle...Pippin, for better or worse, is all grown up.

I'd add to it that Pippin must have been such a familiar site to Tolkien during WWI--the innocent young boy thrust into a horrific situation for which he had absolutely no preparation to either sink or swim.
Merry_Pippin_8
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: January 29, 2005 05:19
I'd add to it that Pippin must have been such a familiar site to Tolkien during WWI--the innocent young boy thrust into a horrific situation for which he had absolutely no preparation to either sink or swim.


What happened to Tolkien in WWI?
hobbitnamedeliza
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: January 30, 2005 07:37
Tolkien enlisted to go to WWI at an early age. He saw the horrors of trench warfare (the Dead Marshes are based on the trenches he saw filled with water and dead bodies on the battlefield); he was wounded, also. He began writing his history of a place called "Middle Earth" while he was recovering from his wounds.

He also knew what mental wounds soldiers carry for life. He once said that when he returned from the war all of his friends except one was dead.

I think WWI was the experience he drew upon for writing about characters under extreme mental and physical stress, for sure.
Sheledrial
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: June 20, 2006 06:47
I feel that they are both independent. They each served a purpose in the movie that was very important. Merry played a prt in the death of the Nazgul and Pippin helped save Faramir's life.

I don't want to turn this into a comparison between the books and the movies (although of course that will happen), but I'd like to focus on the movies mainly.

Do you think Merry and Pippin are full independent characters, with a mind and personality of their own who make important dramatic changes and undergo a real evolution?

Or do you think they're just sidekicks, with no real part in the story (in the sense that they don't change much) and no actual development?

so, take the vote and explain why!
Rulea
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: June 29, 2006 04:52
I think they're both comic relief and independent characters, but more comic relief, esp. Pippen becasue he's either saying or doing something stupid. But they seemed to have matured towards the end of Fellowship, The Two Towers, and definitly in the Return of the King.
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Miriel81589
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Post RE: Merry & Pippin: comic relief or independent characters?
on: July 07, 2006 09:54
I think they started out as comic relief, but TTT and RotK solidified their roles as indepenent and important movers of the plot.
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