The Return of the King

by

J. R. R. Tolkien

Saruman/Sharkey Character Analysis

Saruman was the most powerful of the wizards and was Sauron’s servant until his defeat by the Ents in Isengard. Having escaped from Orthanc, the tower of Isengard, he makes his way to the Shire. There, his greed and his desire for revenge against the hobbits lead him to briefly transform the once-idyllic landscape into a dirty and oppressively productive dictatorial society in which he uses Lotho as his puppet. Saruman, referred to as “Sharkey” by the ruffians who have overtaken the Shire, is ultimately overthrown by Frodo. Frodo refuses to kill Saruman, but when Saruman makes his departure from the Shire, his constant degradation of his servant, Wormtongue, leads Wormtongue to slit his throat.

Saruman/Sharkey Quotes in The Return of the King

The The Return of the King quotes below are all either spoken by Saruman/Sharkey or refer to Saruman/Sharkey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Hope vs. Despair Theme Icon
).
Book 6, Chapter 8 Quotes

This was Frodo and Sam’s own country, and they found out now that they cared about it more than any other place in the world. Many of the houses that they had known were missing. Some seemed to have been burned down. The pleasant row of old hobbit-holes in the bank on the north side of the Pool were deserted, and their little gardens that used to run down bright to the water’s edge were rank with weeds. Worse, there was a whole line of ugly new houses all along Pool Side, where the Hobbiton Road ran close to the bank. An avenue of trees had stood there. They were all gone. And looking with dismay up the road towards Bag End they saw a tall chimney of brick in the distance. It was pouring out black smoke into the evening air.

Related Characters: Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee (Sam), Saruman/Sharkey, The Chief/Lotho Sackville-Baggins
Page Number: 307
Explanation and Analysis:

“No, Sam!” said Frodo. “Do not kill him even now. For he has not hurt me. And in any case I do not wish him to be slain in this evil mood. He was great once, of a noble kind that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he may find it.”

Related Characters: Frodo Baggins (speaker), Samwise Gamgee (Sam), Saruman/Sharkey
Page Number: 325
Explanation and Analysis:
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Saruman/Sharkey Quotes in The Return of the King

The The Return of the King quotes below are all either spoken by Saruman/Sharkey or refer to Saruman/Sharkey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Hope vs. Despair Theme Icon
).
Book 6, Chapter 8 Quotes

This was Frodo and Sam’s own country, and they found out now that they cared about it more than any other place in the world. Many of the houses that they had known were missing. Some seemed to have been burned down. The pleasant row of old hobbit-holes in the bank on the north side of the Pool were deserted, and their little gardens that used to run down bright to the water’s edge were rank with weeds. Worse, there was a whole line of ugly new houses all along Pool Side, where the Hobbiton Road ran close to the bank. An avenue of trees had stood there. They were all gone. And looking with dismay up the road towards Bag End they saw a tall chimney of brick in the distance. It was pouring out black smoke into the evening air.

Related Characters: Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee (Sam), Saruman/Sharkey, The Chief/Lotho Sackville-Baggins
Page Number: 307
Explanation and Analysis:

“No, Sam!” said Frodo. “Do not kill him even now. For he has not hurt me. And in any case I do not wish him to be slain in this evil mood. He was great once, of a noble kind that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he may find it.”

Related Characters: Frodo Baggins (speaker), Samwise Gamgee (Sam), Saruman/Sharkey
Page Number: 325
Explanation and Analysis: