Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Two Towers, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Decline and Decay
Good and Evil
Duty
Joy and Optimism vs. Despair
Power
Heroism, Honor, and Glory
Summary
Analysis
Frodo and Sam rest, then eat again, and Faramir gives them some provisions for the road. His scouts have reported that the land is empty and quiet, so it’s a good time for the hobbits to depart. Faramir gives them each a staff made of wood from Gondor and cut down to their size to aid them in climbing. Frodo says that Elrond told him he would find unlooked for friendship on the road to Mordor, and that he has found that friendship with Faramir.
The supplies Faramir offers are practical, but also a sign of care beyond what courtesy requires of him. Faramir might not have been very useful to Frodo as an advisor, but he has certainly been welcome as a friend. On the barren and listless journey into Mordor, Faramir’s hospitality offered cheering respite.
Themes
Faramir blindfolds Gollum as they leave but offers to let Sam and Frodo see the way out. Frodo declines, asking Faramir to blindfold all three of them so Gollum will understand that they’re not trying to hurt him. In the woods, Faramir counsels Frodo to go straight through the forest before turning east, then embraces both hobbits and kisses their foreheads in the custom of Gondor before walking away.
Frodo prioritizes Gollum’s comfort by asking to be blindfolded: an attempt to rebuild Gollum’s fragile trust. Though Faramir couldn’t persuade Frodo to leave Gollum behind, he can at least give the hobbits directions, briefly usurping Gollum’s place as their guide, as they set off from the Window of Sunset.
Themes
As they travel on, Frodo cautions Gollum not to speak ill of Faramir and his men, who were merciful to him. They stop before nightfall so Frodo can sleep, but Sam is restless, and Gollum wakes them up before dawn. The land is still silent and empty of other living creatures as they near the edge of the woods. Gollum leads them on again towards the east, around brambles and dark pits, climbing steadily up. There seems to be a dark shape rising up in the east and blocking out the stars. The sun never really comes out, leaving them in “dead brown twilight” and in sight of a red light over Mordor. Gollum disappears as the hobbits eat a little and lie down.
The land grows barren and dark again as they leave Ithilien, which was still inside Gondor’s peaceful influence, and draw closer to Sauron’s corruption. Though the stars are out and the sun rises, the atmosphere around Mordor prevents the hobbits from enjoying the light. Mordor is lifeless and joyless, consuming and polluting every part of the natural world.
Themes
Sam has a dream that he’s back at Bag End, wearing a heavy pack in the weedy, muddy garden. He wakes up wanting his pipe, then remembers that he has no leaf to smoke and that they’re very far away from Bag End. Frodo reports that the day is getting steadily darker instead of lighter and that it’s only midday. There’s a throbbing in the air like thunder or drumming, and Gollum still hasn’t returned.
Despite the oppression of Mordor, Sam can escape to beauty and familiarity in dreams. Even there, though, he is weary and weighed down. Mordor’s ability to suppress the natural world only grows as they travel, emphasizing the corruption of Minas Morgul, which they’re approaching.
Themes
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Sam tells Frodo that he can’t stand Gollum, who never did anything useful for them. Frodo reminds him of the Dead Marshes, but Sam still thinks Gollum is up to something. They both hope nothing has happened to him, since they’ll be in trouble if he’s been caught by the enemy. The rumbling noise is louder now, and Frodo fears that they’re in trouble either way, since their journey is almost over. Sam quotes his father—“where there’s life there’s hope” “and need of vittles”—and offers Frodo some food and a chance to sleep.
Frodo, though determined to see his task through to the end, still has little hope of surviving it, even after his rest with Faramir. Sam lets Frodo focus on his quest, carrying the burdensome Ring until they can destroy it, and instead concerns himself with his duty of caring for Frodo by providing him with hope, food, and rest—fundamental necessities and small comforts.
Themes
As Frodo sleeps restlessly, muttering about Gandalf, Gollum reappears, urging them on. He seems excited or afraid, and Sam is suspicious, asking why they have to leave right then. Gollum will only say that time is running short. He leads them to a patch of tall, ancient trees—what he calls the Cross-roads. They stand in the middle of the ring of trees, the meeting point of the paths to Morannon, the south, Osgiliath, and the pass to Cirith Ungol.
As Frodo’s choices grow more difficult and his burden grows heavier, he thinks often of Gandalf, who always gave him counsel and comfort. Now he can trust no one but himself to make the necessary decisions. Meanwhile, Gollum’s behavior grows increasingly suspicious. His mention of time running out sounds frighteningly similar to Frodo’s belief that their end is near.
Themes
Frodo notices a beam of light from the sunset over Gondor fall on a huge statue that looks like the stone kings of Argonath. Its head is gone, and in its place sits a round stone with a painted face and one red eye. The carved head of the king lies by the roadside, its forehead covered by a trailing plant with small white flowers. Frodo cries out to Sam that “The king has got a crown again,” in reference to the poem that Bilbo wrote about Aragorn which ends “The crownless again shall be king.” Frodo takes it as proof that the evil of Mordor, which broke and graffitied the statue, “cannot conquer for ever!” The sunlight disappears and night falls.
Frodo’s sudden joy proves both the importance of sunlight and the natural world for the wellbeing of hobbits and, above all, the great effect a single moment of joy can have on a weary soul. Frodo isn’t just pleased by the sight of the flower crown, he is enlivened and filled with hope. Though Sauron’s orcs have destroyed the statues, the flowers confirm that Middle-earth itself is on the side of good, reclaiming what was broken and convincing Frodo that evil cannot finally destroy everything righteous and beautiful.
Themes
