Or even something that a servant would do. That doesn't seem like normal hobbit behaviour.
I also don't understand why Sam would hold Frodo's hand and almost kiss it and cry over it sometimes. To me, he just seems "slightly less sophisticated" than Frodo, and presumably relatively poor since he worked for Frodo back home. Sam doesn't appear even nearly that stupid/ignorant in the rest of the story to me. But for him to think that this Gollum person was following them around to Mordor just to kill and eat them makes zero sense to me. But he seems very capable to me, albeit strangely submissive to Frodo in a way which I don't quite understand. I also find it strange that Tolkien says "simple mind", as if Sam was some kind of mentally challenged hobbit. Why exactly did Frodo (apparently) not tell Sam about this extremely important detail? Why did Sam never question or ask about it? What on Earth did Sam think that Gollum was? Why was this weird creature following them around for so long and repeatedly tried to stab/suffocate/bite/attack/flee from them? Just some crazy guy who happens to have found them and is looking for "hobbit meat"? Even if that had been the case, Sam's behaviour is absolutely bizarre to me. They seemed to trust him for absolutely no good reason. Even if Gollum didn't desire the Ring, or even knew about it, he is such a weird and sketchy figure that this alone should make them far more careful and cautious. Not even having his foot tied to the rope, allowing themselves to go to sleep both at the same time, etc.
In fact, in spite of the explanation that Frodo feels pity and mercy toward Gollum, I found it baffling how careless they both were in handling Gollum. How is it possible that Frodo did not think it was necessary to even mention this to his trusty companion and only friend, facing such extreme dangers? It seems downright idiotic by Frodo and putting them in an even worse danger. Huh?! I was fully convinced that Sam had been extremely aware of this threat since long before they ever met Gollum. The Dark Lord was He, of course but Sam wondered who She was. He realized now that it was not so: Gollum was feeling the terrible call of the Ring. To his simple mind ordinary hunger, the desire to eat hobbits, had seemed the chief danger in Gollum.
Sam had lain still, fascinated by this debate, but watching every move that Gollum made from under his half-closed eye-lids. At roughly page 277 (I'm reading a translation) of The Two Towers, where Gollum is talking to himself as Frodo is sleeping, it says:
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