One of the most notable aspects of The Hobbit is how all of the different creatures align in terms of
what other creatures they work for or work against. This helps to show that
Middle-earth is a massive world which exists far beyond what we read in The Hobbit.
The trolls, goblins, wargs, and
spiders are clearly more vicious and evil than most creatures, willing to kill
and eat the dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo without a second thought, but the rest
of the creatures are more complex then that.
Gollum, for instance, seems to be a
creature all his own (he’s barely even given a physical description) and does
not seem to side with anyone except himself, and is willing to eat anything
that he can find, but he also follows a strict set of traditional rules, and (at
first, at least) is willing to bargain with Bilbo instead of just attacking
him.
The eagles
and Beorn are inherently good, but seem to assist the group more out of a
hatred for the goblins rather than a desire to actually help the dwarves (the
eagles also owed a debt of gratitude to Gandalf). Also, Beorn is distrusting of
all races and cares little for material wealth, choosing to live alone in the
forest.
Finally,
Tolkein goes into detail about the Wood-elves on page 154. It is explicity
stated that they are “Good People” because they were elves, but in The Hobbit they serve as antagonists who
are distrusting of any outsiders and were more dangerous and less wise than the
elves in Rivendell. They also had a clear distrust of dwarves because of some
wars that happened so long ago that they were described as “ancient,” which is
another example of how much the creatures within Middle-earth emphasis
tradition and the past.
Humans have only been mentioned by the eagles (“The would
soot at us with their great bows of yew… for they would think we were after
their sheep. And at other times they would be right” (103)) so it’s still
unclear who they consider allies. Do you think the humans will accept the
dwarves with open arms like the elves in Rivendell, distrust them like the
wood-elves, immediately try to kill them like the goblins, or do you think
something else entirely different will happen?
This is an interesting question. I think the only way I could answer it would be to refer to what you mentioned earlier, when you said that certain creatures are more complex than simply evil. Humans, who we have not seen interact with the dwarves yet, I would assume to be one of these creatures. I doubt that any creature would welcome unknown guests "with open arms," especially creatures in Middle Earth where war is frequent and unforgotten; however, I do not expect them to take immediate action like the goblins, spiders, and Wargs. Humans have well-functioning thinking processes, and although Tolkien makes the elves' status as great well-known, humans might be capable of more than simple evil, and for this reason I expect them to be a complex race that the dwarves will have to reason with.
ReplyDeleteHumans for Tolkien are always interesting because they in some ways are the most familiar figures but also the most complex. Humanity is certainly the most complex, equally as innocent as a Hobbit and evil as a orc. Humanity is able to be incredibly heroic and insanely devious. They are also young and die quickly compared to an elf that is immortal or a dwarf that lives hundreds of years. Mortality is an issue that is always in the eye of Tolkien's humans. Keep an eye out for complexity with the humans and how they react differently than the other races.
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