In the second half of the book, Bilbo proved himself to be a worthy companion and friend. No longer the shy, reluctant, and timid hobbit, he's found a self-confidence that can take him anywhere. When all the dwarves were scared, it was him who went to face the dragon. It was him who dared speak to Smaug. It's always hard for anyone to grow out of an outer shell, and that's exactly what Bilbo did. On page 301 it says, "Indeed Bilbo found he had lost more than spoonsÑhe had lost his reputation. It is true that forever after he remained an elf-friend, and had the honour of the dwarves, wizards, and all such fold as ever passed that way; but he was no longer quite respectable. He was in fact held by all the hobbits of the neighborhood to be 'queer'. " Anyone would feel sorry for him, but the needn't. Bilbo doesn't even care about his reputation anymore. He doesn't care if nobody believes him and his adventures and tales. He no longer cares what others think of him because he knows who he really is now. He's found a great hobbit inside that he can live with and he's found great friends who like him for who he is and has become.
While reading this book, I could picture a movie going through my head. The descriptions Tolkien uses are great. He thoroughly describes everything so the reader knows exactly what a scene looks like and exactly what someone is doing. Page 213 illustrates this very well, "There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; a thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but his fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious things, gold wrought and unwrought, gems and jewels, and silver red-stained in the ruddy light." This excerpt is from the first time Bilbo sees Smaug and the inside of the mountain. Who can't picture that in their head? The words used to describe like thrumming and coiled tail, across unseen floors are sensory words that help the reader use their sense of sight while reading.
What I thought was really ironic at the end was that nothing could bring the dwarves, elves and men together, except some"things" that was determined to tear them all apart. Those some"things" were the goblins and the Wargs. All they wanted was to kill all of them and never have to face them again. They wanted revenge against the dwarves for killing the Great Goblin. But in fact what they did, was the made all the dwarves, elves, and men work together to try to get rid of them, which they did. The goblins and the Wargs united all the others and peace was sought.
I didn't really enjoy this book. I thought it was very childish and superficial. Nothing in the book was wroth examining very deeply. If anyone were to ask a why or how question, it can be answered by one word, "Magic." After reading The Catcher in the Rye and then reading this, it was a great transition. A great topic of discussion in Catcher was the meaning of the title. The meaning of this title is that is what the little man was; it was his race of people, the hobbit. I guess I can safely say I do not like books of the fantasy genre. Everything is so made up and doesn't really have anything to do with real life. Nobody I know will ever meet a gollum or giant spiders or trolls or dwarves for that fact. I'm sure if I was in third grade, I would enjoy the book because I would find the adventure fascinating and page turning. Now that I've read books with much deeper meaning, fantasy just doesn't appeal to me.
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