For this blog post I want to focus on how Bilbo uses is wits
to overcome situations versus, brute strength, which we see with the typical
hero. The first major thing that Bilbo does in this section is he discovers how
to open the door by remembering the riddle. This is essential to their quest because
if Bilbo had not remembered it they wouldn’t be able to complete their quest.
The next time that Bilbo uses his wits to escape a sticky situation is when he
goes to the dragon and uses his ring to become invisible. Bilbo then
compliments the dragon, which in turn results in the dragon showing his underbelly,
which reveals a patch. This is essential because it ends up being the dragon’s
demise. Bilbo is a great example of a hero who isn’t exactly traditional
because he uses his wits instead of always using his physical brute. This is
much different than the heroes that we have encountered this far such as
Beowulf.
Questions: Are there any other examples of this in the
passage?
What is the significance in this?
Could this change be some sort of reflection of the time
period?
I think you make an extremely good point that Bilbo's wit is his strength. Bilbo's wit seems to make an appearance extremely often. His cheekiness has saved him with the dragon once, and may just save them all again. I think this is trying to show that brute force is not necessary to gain means to an end, and is not the qualify characteristic of a hero.
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