Okay, we know that hobbits were small race and they seemed to be weak and just plain funny. They enjoyed the simple joys of life like eating, drinking, singing etc. First it would seem that they were the weakest race in whole M-E history. But that wasn't the case at all. Their strenght seemed to suprise everyone, including Gandalf and he had spend much time with them and "studied" them and their ways.
"And it seems that Hobbits fade very reluctantly. I have known strong warriors of the Big People who would quickly have been overcome by that splinter, which you bore for seventeen days."LotR, Many Meetings. ‘They are a remarkable race,’ said the Warden, nodding his head. ‘Very tough in the fibre, I deem.’RotK, The Houses of Healing.
These are just some examples of their strenght and now i would like to start discussion what exatly was that "inner power" and strenght of Hobbits? Were they so fond to this world and they loved those simple joys so much that they didn't want to surrender or what? Please give your opinions.
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I am Tulkas the Valiant who laughs ever in the face of Good or Evil.
Well it appears that Hobbits possess many of the characteristics that Dwarves do (apart from the height thing). Dwarves are stubborn hearted, similar though to a higher degree than hobbits, tough, resiliant to corruption. Look at Thorin Oakensheild. The other 12 dwarves barely treated him different to eaachother let alone as a rightful king should have been treated.
"The dwarves indeed proved tough and hard to tame; they ill endure the domination of others, and the thoughts of their hearts are hard to fathom..."
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Utúlie'n aurë! Aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie'n aurë! Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva!
Yes, that may be true in some ways, altough i don't really see that hobbits and dwarves were so much alike. But that didn't answer to my question why they were so "strong" against corruption 'Ring, evil overall'?
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I am Tulkas the Valiant who laughs ever in the face of Good or Evil.
I wouldn't call the Hobbits "strong", since that implies physical strength of which the Hobbits truly had little compared to Men, for example. Rather, I would say that they have excessive fortitude. Why they have this great fortitude, I don't know for certain however.
Maybe one reason they were resistant to corruption is that they had so little exposure to the outside world? They weren't given the opportunity to be corrupted by feelings of jealousy or malcontent. Also, I have to agree with Narguzir about the fortitude/strength issue.
I think they were just so jolly. They could see the brightest side of life, and didn't have to spend time experiencing it's dark side, well, not as much as other races. Gandalf says that they have been overlooked because they didn't seem important to the big people of ME. Evil and hardship didn't seem to extend to them, apart from the Great Plague (I agree with you Eonwe) . Laughter is the best medicine, and happy, positive people live the longest. I think this helped them, they had such resilience, determination and goodness in them.
Their inner strength definetly outwieghed any physical strength they may have had. Like Eonwe stated, they had little exposure to the outside world, and thus knew little about the evil that was slowly spreading toward them. Technically, all Frodo and Samwise knew when they left the Shire was that they had to get the ring to Rivendell, and everything would be fine.
Like you have said, Lord Tulkas, the Hobbits were not to keen on changing anything. As we see when Frodo and Sam are on their journey. They are constantly referring back to the Shire, always ready to be at home. I think that was one of the main driving forces of their resilience to the ring, and their will to destroy it.