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Hobbit Book Presentation Peer Reviews
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Peer Evaluation and Discussion Questions
Please discuss the following either in paragraph or numerical form in a minimum of 250 words (for all questions combined, not 250 words for each answer).
Remember to review 2 presentations. If you are giving a presentation, choose two from those given by the other students. If there is only one presentation posted, please peer review one of the sample presentations from earlier classes.
What does the group’s thesis say they will try to prove about their topic?
In what ways was the group successful in proving their thesis? Discuss at least two examples.
What part(s) of the presentation were weakest and why?
What did you learn about the book that you hadn’t thought about before from the group’s presentation?
Please make any general comments about the group’s presentation.
Then, please choose one of the discussion questions posed by the group in their presentation and give a thoughtful response.
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The Hobbit
Bilbo the Thief
Emily Reeder
Topic
Bilbo insists that he is not a thief, yet there are times when he is just that. Give examples
of Bilbo the Thief and how does Bilbo’s thievery serve the story? What other characters
could be considered to be thieves and why?
Thesis
Throughout the Hobbit the reader can observe Bilbo become more comfortable in his
thievery and become more accepting of himself as a thief. Bilbo’s thievery serves the story
in numerous ways from allowing him to have more confidence in himself and develop
more leadership skills as well as to help the group escape from many dangerous situations
and try to mend peace between two groups. Although he is considered the main thief in
this book, all of the dwarfs acts as thieves in some point or another when at Bilbo’s
residence or in the cave, but the other main character that I would consider to be a thief is
Thorin Oakenshield.
Bilbo Drawn From the Character
Morris
Tolkien drew ideas from the Icelandic mythologies of Morris. In
these both Bilbo and Morris are taken from their comfortable
lives and thrown into a world of adventure. This paper draws
thin lines between characters Morris and Bilbo and states that
“Morris to his own surprise, proves to be a good camp cook…”
(Amison pg. 2). Not only did Tolkien get the Hobbit’s love of
food from Morris, but also the ability to pick things up quickly
and be a leader when others can’t.
Bilbo did not believe himself to be a burglar but to his own
surprise he turned out to the best burglar in the book, and he was
able to lead when others couldn’t.
The attributes possessed
by both Bilbo and Morris
lead Bilbo to become a
burglar:
–
–
Confidence
Leadership
A servant-like
mindset
Trust
Bilbo Gets Paid a Visit
Gandalf and the Dwarfs visit Bilbo at his
hobbit hole.
–
As Gandalf is explaining the terms of the
journey he insists that Bilbo is their thief.
He states “I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar
he is, or will be when the time comes.
There is a lot more in him than you guess,
and a deal more than he has any idea of
himself.” (Tolkien pg 14).
During this visit the dwarfs raid
Bilbo’s kitchen and steal all of
his food in the morning and
leave a mess
Swords
Bilbo Baggins and Sting
Thorin Oakenshield and Orcrist
–
–
Sting is an Elven sword that
Bilbo had found in the
Troll’s cave and uses
throughout the journey
Orcrist is also found in the
Troll cave. Thorin uses this
sword throughout the book.
Swords cont.
Gandalf and the Glamdring
–
The Glamdring is also found at the same time as
the others in the Troll’s cave and will be used to
help rescue the rest from the Goblins.
Bilbo Meets Gollum
Upon separation from the rest of the dwarfs, Bilbo
stumbles upon an underground lake and meets
Gollum.
However, just before, he finds a ring on the ground
and puts it in his pocket.
Through a series of riddles and a win for Bilbo, he
discovers that the Ring is what Gollum lost, knowing
this he still keeps it for himself,
More to Bilbo than just a Burglar
Bilbo become a ring bearer in the Hobbit and through his isolation in his Hobbit hole and
having to try so hard to fit into the Hobbit community Bilbo understands Gollum and
chooses mercy when he finds the ring. This allows “Bilbo to remain Bilbo and not be
consumed by the ring’s manipulations” (Medlock pg 36).
Even though Bilbo will eventually be put in situations where he is forced to steal in the
book, his character always remains true and respectable and this is part of the reason Bilbo
believes himself to be “an honest” burglar.
Bilbo and the Spiders
This isn’t necessarily a moment where Bilbo steals
anything. Although the only reason the dwarves and Bilbo
got captured by the spiders was because they wanted the
food that the people in the forest were eating.
However, this is a big turn of character development for
Bilbo as he escapes and kills the spiders and saves the
dwarves.
Inside the Elven caves
After the escape from the spiders the dwarfs got captured
by the elves but Bilbo who had on his invisibility ring
followed them along inside.
For weeks Bilbo was invisible inside the cave and he said
“I am like a burglar that can’t get away, but must go on
miserably burgling the same house day after day.”
(Tolkien pg 107).
Bilbo and Smaug
When arriving at the entrance to the treasure and Smaug
the dragon’s lair Bilbo goes inside and steal a gold cup for
the dwarves.
He is alarmed at how much gold there is and is instructed
to go back but the second time engages with Smaug and
the thievery of the cup, his smooth talk with the dragon
and his escape from the lair all made Smaug mad as he
goes to look after them
Did Bilbo Really Steal From Smaug?
Joseph Pierce in “Bilbo’s Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning of the Hobbit” talks
about Bilbo’s interaction with stealing from Smaug and states that “Bilbo is not nearly a
burglar or a thief. He was merely taking from the dragon that which the dragon had stolen
from others” (Pierce chap 3).
In this Pierce is describing Bilbo’s interactions as in relation to Robinhood, stealing from
the ‘greedy’ and returning it to the ‘needy’ or those that originally owned it.
Throughout the book, Bilbo takes or steals several things, usually just trying to help
himself or his friends. In the interaction with Smaug he’s just helping to take back what
was originally owed to Thorin, so it wasn’t really thievery, but I also think that the way
they were going about it was.
The Arkenstone
Bilbo Baggins
–
–
–
Bilbo find the Arkenstone
on another journey into
the cave and pockets it.
He says “Now I am a
burglar indeed!” (Tolkien
pg 137).
However, he never tells
the dwarfs he found it
Thorin Oakenshield
– As the dwarfs are in the
cave or riches, the only
thing Thorin cares about is
the Arkenstone of Thrain.
– When Bard the Bowman
tries to make a trade with
the Arkenstone, Thorin
would rather go into battle
because he feels it was
stolen from him, even
though he tried to steal it
from the cave.
After the War
Upon Thorin’s death, he tells Bilbo “Farewell, good thief”. In this he is acknowledging
how Bilbo is both a better thief than him and also person, since Bilbo’s thievery makes
him a better person.
Bard and the Lake people are also given the 1/14th treasure that Bilbo was offered.
As Bilbo and Gandalf return home the Elvenking exchanged condolences with Bilbo
and Bilbo gives him a necklace as a ‘thank you for the hospitality’ that Bilbo gave
himself when he snuck around in the caves for several weeks.
Discussion Question 1
Would you consider Thorin to be a thief even though he
technically had a claim to the original treasure and if so do you
think his deceit and thievery come from a fear of losing his power
and loyalty of the dwarfs or from his attachment to the treasure or
from both?
Discussion Question 2
Do you think that if Bilbo didn’t ‘betray’ Thorin and gave him the Arkenstone after he
found it, things would have turned out differently for Thorin, or do you think he would
have still died in war due to his short temper and obsession with the treasure?
Discussion Question 3
Do you believe that Bilbo is really a thief if he was just aiding in
an adventure to reclaim lost/stolen treasure?
References
Anne Amison. Mythlore. Alhambra: Fall 2006. Vol. 25, Iss 95/96, pg. 127, 11 pgs
Medlock, Taylor. “Heroes of the Middle Earth: The Hobbit.” Texas A&M University,
2021, pp. 36–36.
Pierce, Joseph. Bilbo’s Journey: The Hidden Message of the Hobbit. Saint Benedict
Press LLC, 2012.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 1994.
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