Monstars: Dwarves

Out of all the other character in The Hobbit, I found the dwarves to be extremely interesting. Even though they were described as having simple characteristics, it is the dwarves that surprised me the most throughout the book. First of all, they are supposed to live to be extremely old, so you would assume that they would then at least be somewhat wise, right? Wrong.  Throughout the book they continuously make extremely juvenile and silly mistakes that typically bring scorn or ridicule from others. An excellent example would be the fact that the dwarves did not even bother to think of a way of transporting the treasure places once they possessed it. The book is mostly comprised of the dwarves making extremely stupid mistakes and then being saved later on by either Gandalf or Bilbo, who actually seem to possess common sense.

Dwarves are also described as being self-centered and often times greedy. We do see, however, instances throughout the book where the dwarves overcame said selfishness. When Bilbo stole the cup and sent Smaug rampaging, for example, the other dwarves risked their lives to pull up the remaining dwarves who had remained behind and were in danger of being killed by the dragon. Also, when Bilbo had to venture into Smaug’s lair, Balin bravely steps forward and accompanies the hobbit at least partway through the tunnel.

Where the dwarves described as being greedy solely for the purpose of making a bigger impression when they did something out of character?