They are the two characters with the most straitened or at least focused loyalties in LotR; almost everyone here develops loyalty of some kind to someone outside their original allegiances, but Sam cares about Frodo and Denethor cares about Gondor and that does not change.
More specifically, they are both servants; Denethor is the Steward of Gondor, and Sam is Frodoâs gardener, but in effect they are both stewards of their mastersâ households.
They each face a moment of despair, when that which they loved and bound themselves to appears to be dead. Each of them, in that moment, contemplates suicide.
HOWEVER. Their choices diverge. And I would say this illustrates (among other things) the differences in their loyalties, and in their attitudes toward them.
Both are servants in name, and bound to their services; but Sam is truly a servant who loves his master as a follower, and Denethor has become a servant who considers himself master, and thus he loves Gondor (and his sons) partly as his possessions. He loves with pride, where Sam loves with humility.
When Denethor loses everything (his city and his sons), he spirals into a proud despair because he refuses to let go of them, because he sees his losses as âdiminishingâ himself; he would rather die with themâeven hastening their deathsâthan live a life where they are not his. He is unable to look beyond that separation for either himself or them.
When Sam loses everything (his master), he wants to die, rather than live without Frodo; he wants to give himself over to vengeance or suicide rather than live outside of Frodoâs service. However, he sees that these things would only separate him further from his master and so rejects them. He chooses the love of his master, even after having lost him, over the hatred of a world without him.
And THEN: both characters are also given calls to renewed service, in the moments of their deepest despair! Gandalf tells Denethor that his place is on the battlefield, to let go of Faramir and to face death with his people even if he has no hope. Sam hears a call, from grace or his own heart, telling him quite clearly that he has to pick up his masterâs errand, even if that also means leaving his master.
Denethor wavers; but he falls back on his despair, and his hatred of a world which he thinks is lost to him. He chooses pride and possessiveness over the love and loyalty that were first mixed with them, and so ultimately chooses ânaught.âÂ
Sam wavers, too, also clinging to his loss; but in the end he looks up from his master and sees the duty that Frodo followed, and accepts it in his turn. He chooses that duty and service over his attachment to Frodo, when said attachment can do Frodo no good; and by this choice he not only proves his love and loyalty to be stronger than his own desires, but ultimately is able to save Frodo and the Quest.
TL;DR, they both suffered the same total loss, to a degree that would be difficult for any other character to feel at a single blow, due to their concentrated loyalties. However, Samâs loyalty and love were those of a true and humble servant, while Denethorâs loyalty and love were corrupted by pride and possessiveness. Because of this, Denethorâs loss led to his final fall, while Samâs proved a new degree of virtue in him.
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