Thursday, November 21, 2013
Group 3 The Hobbit
Throughout the book, we see Bilbo as this hobbit who is more comfortable with the idea of being alone in his hobbit hole, but as the story unfolds we see that Bilbo does indeed have an adventurous side. This adventure that dwells within him comes from his Took heritage, and his love for staying at home being at peace comes from his Baggins side of the family. We see a true sense of adventure in this Hobbit, even though he is not really accepted by the other hobbits like he was before, but thats ok because he is at home and has his pipe and is comfortable at home. We also see Bilbo as a hero because of his act of giving the elf the Arkenstone because it means so much to Thorin. "For the Arkenstone of my father, is worth more than a river of gold in itself, and to me it is beyond price. That stone of all the treasure I name unto myself, and I will be avenged on anyone who finds it and withholds it" (Tolkien 244). Because Bilbo did this, peace was restored. This is an example of Loyalty, which to me is an example of a great hero. My question to you is, why do you think Bilbo decided to do this on his own? Do you think this is the reason Gandalf took Bilbo on the adventure with him?
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I think that Bilbo was able to do that because of the peaceful side of him, instead of his Took side. He wanted to resolve the conflict instead of drawing it out into a battle. He seems to enjoy the adventuring aspects of the journey, but not the actual conflict. Because he is a blended version of two extremes he is able to give a levelheaded response to situations like this one where Thorin overreacted. I would think that Gandalf was aware of this quality and brought Bilbo along to offer this specific dynamic to the group. This is probably why Gandalf waits so long to reveal his presence in the company of Bard. He hoped that Bilbo would be able to get through to him on his own.
ReplyDeleteI feel Bilbo had to do this on his own because the dwarves put wealth first, Bilbo is more humble and understands he doesn't need much to live, and the adventure itself is more than enough. Thus, the adventure really means to different things for the dwarves and Bilbo. For Bilbo it means to just have the memories and the story and basically the overall journey means more than the destination. However, the dwarves are only worried about the ending of their adventure and the prize that comes with it. I think the reason Gandalf took Bilbo on the adventure was because the dwarves need a voice of reason, someone who is able to put their lives and safety over wealth.
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