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The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
**Hobbit Discussion – Inside Information** Part 1 – Bilbo earns his reward

grammaboodawg
Immortal

Jun 8 2009, 1:59pm

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Hobbit Discussion – Inside Information Part 1 – Bilbo earns his reward	Can't Post

Whoa... I haven't done one of these in Quite a While! This is one of my favourite chapters of The Hobbit, so I'm geeked and intimidated all at the same time... but here goes :)

Each day this week, I'll be following the chapter as written, slightly diverting at times to look at thematic situations. I have included some of the text I'll be discussing for reference purposes.

Mr. Baggins shows amazing courage as he gathers "Inside Information" of what the Company's facing behind the hidden door when he enters the captured realm of Erebor and knowingly goes into the dragon's den alone.

But let's start at the beginning. We find Bilbo enduring Thorin as he pontificates and flexes his oratory muscles... again. Bilbo knows by now that Thorin is leading up to something. In this case, announcing that Bilbo should earn his pay:

... ""Now is the time for our esteemed Mr. Baggins, who has proved himself a good companion on our long road, and a hobbit full of courage and resource far exceeding his size, and if I may say so possessed of good luck [luck is mentioned 12 times in this chapter!] far exceeding the usual allowance—now is the time for him to perform the service for which he was included in our Company; now is the time for him to earn his Reward.""

Now is the time, needless to say, that I'm sure Bilbo has his own thoughts about expectations and achievements. Once again, he brings Thorin up short and gets to the point... including coming as close as ever to a hobbity insult.

... ""If you mean you think it is my job to go into the secret passage first, O Thorin Thrain's son Oakenshield, may your beard grow ever longer," he said crossly, "say so at once and have done! I might refuse. I have got you out of two messes already, which were hardly in the original bargain, so that I am, I think, already owed some reward. But 'third time pays for all' as my father used to say, and somehow I don't think I shall refuse. Perhaps I have begun to trust my luck more that I used to in the old days"--he meant last spring before he left his own house, but it seemed centuries ago--"but anyway I think I will go and have a peep at once and get it over. Now who is coming with me?"
... He did not expect a chorus of volunteers, so he was not disappointed."

Bilbo? Disappointed? Vexed? By now, he not only has Thorin's number, but the others as well.

Do you think Bilbo anticipated this moment, or were they all too distracted about just getting to the mountain and trying to find the door to consider what came next?

What do you think of his tone as he teases that he may refuse to go, but then says he'll go to have a peep? Is he living up to the hobbity way of making light of dire situations, or is he just messing with them? Do you think Bilbo's sounding more like Gandalf as he relates to the dwarves?

Why do you think Fili and Kili were the only ones pointed out to seem chagrinned? Balin exceeded the other dwarves in showing his quality as the only one to volunteer to attend Bilbo...but only to a point.

Bilbo could hear the dwarves back at the tunnel entrance. What do you suppose the dwarves hovering around the door were whispering? Do you think Bilbo could make out what they were saying? Or if Balin could... and would it affect how he felt about Bilbo and/or his comrades?

And so it begins. Bilbo screws himself up to pass through the door and down into the dark.

... "He was altogether alone. Soon he thought it was beginning to feel warm. "Is that a kind of a glow I seem to see coming right ahead down there?" he thought.
... It was. As he went forward it grew and grew, till there was no doubt about it. It was a red light steadily getting redder and redder. Also it was now undoubtedly hot in the tunnel. Wisps of vapour floated up and past him and he began to sweat. A sound, too, began to throb in his ears, a sort of bubbling like the noise of a large pot galloping on the fire, mixed with a rumble as of a gigantic tom-cat purring. This grew to be the unmistakable gurgling noise of some vast animal snoring in its sleep down there in the red glow in front of him.
... It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait. At any rate after a short halt go on he did; and you can picture him coming to the end of the tunnel, an opening of much the same size and shape as the door above. Through it peeps the hobbit's little head."

Looks like he did have a peep afterall!! Do you think the anxiety of travelling the tunnel alone and getting gradual hints of what he was experiencing were effective at building tension for the reader/audience? Do you remember YOUR first impression as you travelled down with him?

WANTED: Sharing of any thoughts or comments.

***Tomorrow... Bilbo plays the hobbit game, "cup"

[text taken from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: Inside Information, 1965 Ballantine edition, pgs 203-222]

"There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West."
~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."

I really need these new films to take me back to, and not re-introduce me to, that magical world.

TORn's Observations Lists

Subject	User	Time
Hobbit Discussion – Inside Information Part 1 – Bilbo earns his reward	grammaboodawg	Jun 8 2009, 1:59pm
Thoughts.	Curious	Jun 8 2009, 2:57pm
nods and chuckles intermittently	grammaboodawg	Jun 8 2009, 7:00pm
Peep!	Dreamdeer	Jun 8 2009, 4:16pm
snigger Did you see the 2nd one? ;) //	grammaboodawg	Jun 8 2009, 6:53pm
Whups!	Dreamdeer	Jun 8 2009, 11:12pm
Tolkien's characterization of dwarves makes me uncomfortable.	Curious	Jun 8 2009, 7:28pm
That 1965 interview	N.E. Brigand	Jun 8 2009, 8:01pm
Does Rateliffe mention 1965?	FarFromHome	Jun 8 2009, 8:51pm
Recorded in 1965, broadcast in 1971 (see Scull/Hammond). //	N.E. Brigand	Jun 8 2009, 10:09pm
I'm fairly sure that the 1971 audio is an edited version of the 1965 interview	Voronwë_the_Faithful	Jun 9 2009, 6:32am
Very interesting!	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 4:53pm
Indeed!	Voronwë_the_Faithful	Jun 9 2009, 5:07pm
Yes, I can see why Christopher may not	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 5:14pm
WOW!	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 5:30pm
For all we know	N.E. Brigand	Jun 9 2009, 6:49pm
For all we know, what?	Voronwë_the_Faithful	Jun 9 2009, 7:09pm
We've only just begun	N.E. Brigand	Jun 9 2009, 7:29pm
So you weren't uncomfortable	FarFromHome	Jun 8 2009, 9:38pm
No, now that Tolkien made the real-world comparison,	Curious	Jun 8 2009, 11:12pm
Tolkien's personal arc	Dreamdeer	Jun 8 2009, 11:17pm
What makes me uncomfortable...	FarFromHome	Jun 9 2009, 10:08am
Some do, and some don't	sador	Jun 9 2009, 10:16am
But I do mind.	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 1:24pm
That's the problem...	FarFromHome	Jun 9 2009, 2:17pm
That's a nice way of letting Tolkien off the hook.	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 2:46pm
The interview raises several points.	FarFromHome	Jun 9 2009, 3:56pm
Tolkien is, however,	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 4:21pm
Match how?	Voronwë_the_Faithful	Jun 9 2009, 4:37pm
That stereotype right there	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 5:19pm
I think that is a real stretch to call that a negative stereotype	Voronwë_the_Faithful	Jun 9 2009, 5:37pm
My bad	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 5:49pm
Can you expand on this?	Voronwë_the_Faithful	Jun 9 2009, 7:02pm
Like, okay. Tremendous love, not so much.	Dreamdeer	Jun 10 2009, 11:26pm
Whoa	squire	Jun 9 2009, 8:41pm
Does a cathedral count as an artefact?	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 8:51pm
Huh?	squire	Jun 10 2009, 12:06am
Fair enough.//	Curious	Jun 10 2009, 12:21am
Not so idealized.	FarFromHome	Jun 10 2009, 8:41am
Letter 202: "Art or cash."	Darkstone	Jun 10 2009, 1:18pm
Or girls.	Curious	Jun 10 2009, 1:42pm
It's not a dichotomy	FarFromHome	Jun 10 2009, 2:13pm
It's a continuum.	Darkstone	Jun 10 2009, 2:42pm
The treatment gave him pause.	N.E. Brigand	Jun 10 2009, 2:45pm
Was the Professor a "bleeder"?	Darkstone	Jun 10 2009, 3:49pm
Yeah.	FarFromHome	Jun 10 2009, 4:18pm
Yeah	Darkstone	Jun 10 2009, 4:38pm
"'No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.'"	Curious	Jun 10 2009, 4:54pm
What about a woman?	Darkstone	Jun 10 2009, 5:14pm
I'm afraid Johson	Curious	Jun 10 2009, 5:15pm
I'm a Blockhead.	Dreamdeer	Jun 10 2009, 11:48pm
I see the discrepancy now.	Dreamdeer	Jun 10 2009, 11:41pm
There's art and then there's art	Dreamdeer	Jun 10 2009, 11:32pm
Shaping versus shape?	Darkstone	Jun 9 2009, 8:48pm
Very good point!	Dreamdeer	Jun 10 2009, 11:29pm
Tolkien does not	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 5:49pm
You're right.	FarFromHome	Jun 9 2009, 5:04pm
It's a delicate matter.	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 5:25pm
Culture versus race	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 5:42pm
This is why...	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 5:13pm
I'm more worried about what I unconsciously reveal.	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 9:12pm
Sounds familiar.	Dreamdeer	Jun 10 2009, 11:36pm
That's a nice way of letting all authors off the hook.	N.E. Brigand	Jun 9 2009, 4:09pm
I'm not sure why they're on the hook in the first place.	FarFromHome	Jun 9 2009, 5:44pm
At most, Tolkien is on the hook	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 6:01pm
Exactly	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 4:43pm
Degrees of Discomfort	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 4:39pm
But had he outgrown it in 1965?//	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 4:51pm
He was working on it.	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 5:21pm
One might see The Hobbit as a sign of growth	sador	Jun 9 2009, 4:56pm
Gimli and Galadriel	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 5:47pm
I give him both more and less credit than that.	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 1:55pm
every one	Twit	Jun 9 2009, 2:09pm
Greed, etc.	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 5:04pm
Thank you	Twit	Jun 10 2009, 10:21am
Ubiquitous Patterns of Thought	Dreamdeer	Jun 9 2009, 4:54pm
We're still human	FarFromHome	Jun 9 2009, 5:17pm
"flexes his oratory muscles"!	dernwyn	Jun 9 2009, 2:18am
Thorin did, in 'A Warm Welcome'	sador	Jun 9 2009, 6:06am
The current situation	dernwyn	Jun 9 2009, 11:12am
Let's hope this wasn't the case:)...	batik	Jun 9 2009, 3:29am
That's what I love about doing these	grammaboodawg	Jun 11 2009, 4:47pm
Citizen soldier vs. hero	Beren IV	Jun 9 2009, 5:25am
Bilbo, Frodo, Merry, Sam, and Pippin	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 5:08pm
Except they're not fighting soldiers (for the most part)	Beren IV	Jun 9 2009, 8:12pm
Those monsters	Curious	Jun 9 2009, 9:05pm
Imperial Stormtrooper Syndrome	Darkstone	Jun 9 2009, 9:10pm
Tolkien did not undestand evil	Beren IV	Jun 10 2009, 12:41am
I don't think it's about not understanding.	FarFromHome	Jun 10 2009, 8:55am
Gee, that's pretty close	Curious	Jun 10 2009, 5:13pm
The men under Sauron (and Saruman) are different.	Curious	Jun 10 2009, 1:31pm
here goes...	Twit	Jun 9 2009, 11:55am
"Say so at once, and have done!"	FarFromHome	Jun 9 2009, 1:55pm
Preparing Himself for the Worst	GaladrielTX	Jun 9 2009, 11:10pm
Playing peek-a-boo	dernwyn	Jun 9 2009, 11:49pm
Merry did	sador	Jun 10 2009, 6:09am

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