Kurt+W

Kurt Williams March 18, 2010 Mr. Kreft Academic English 12 Plot Overview:   The novel starts out in Bilbo Baggin’s home, which is a hole in the ground. Gandalf, a famous and powerful wizard of the time, shows up to Bilbo’s house and asks Bilbo if he wants to come on an adventure. Bilbo refuses, but says Gandalf should stop by anytime. The next day, dwarves proceeded to show up at Bilbo’s house. Eventually, the leader of the dwarves Thorin shows up along with Gandalf. Bilbo is then forced in the adventure as the official burglar. Their goal is to journey to the Lonely Mountains’ and reclaim Thorin’s family’s lost treasure. The treasure is guarded by Smaug. The first event that happens to the group involves trolls. Bilbo acts stupidly when he tries to steal the troll’s money purse but is captured. This leads to the rest of the gangs’ capture by the trolls. Gandalf saves the day when he throws his voice, causing the trolls to fight and argue. Eventually they die in the sunlight. Next, they go to Rivendell which is lead by Elrond. He interprets the map and the weapons the group stole from the trolls. The group leaves after a few days. Later, when the group is trying to find shelter, they are captured by the goblins and the goblin king. Suddenly, the lights burn out as the group witnesses Gandalf kill the king. While escaping, the group loses Bilbo who finds a powerful ring. Bilbo escapes Gollum’s cave and the Misty Mountains with the ring. Bilbo fins his company and they continue their adventure. This turns south, as they hear wargs so decide to climb the trees. They are saved however as eagles carry them to safety. The gang is then helped by Beorn but then continues on their journey into Mirkwood. The gang becomes separated because of the elves of the forest, and eventually Bilbo is captured by a spider. He kills the spider, then finds the dwarves and frees them. They then are captured by the elves. Bilbo is invisible so he uses this power to steal the guard’s keys, freeing the dwarves. They then use barrels to float to Lake Town. At Lake Town they are treated well but then move on to the Lonely Mountains. After a few days, the gang accesses the secret door with the help of Bilbo and enters the Lonely Mountains. Bilbo steals a cup from the treasure Smaug is sleeping on. Bilbo on his second trip back to the treasure is shown the dragon’s only weak spot and manages to escape. Smaug flies off in order to damage Lake Town, while the group sneaks back to his lair and steals some treasure. Bilbo grabs Arkenstone, a gem very important to Thorin. When Smaug gets to Lake Town he causes much destruction but is eventually killed by Bard, an archer. The Lake Town people along with other humans and elves march towards the Lonely Mountain in order to get some treasure. When Bard gets there he asks Thorin for some treasure to repair Lake Town but Thorin denies him. Bilbo sneaks out at night and gives Bard the Arkenstone as a bargaining tool then sneaks back. The next day Thorin agrees to give up 1/14th of the treasure to the men and they are happy. Right as Thorin’s Dain army is coming, the wargs and goblins come as well. This huge battle called the Battle of the Five Armies sees the dwarves, elves, and humans fight against the wargs and goblins. Bilbo becomes unconscious as the eagles come to help the good side. When Bilbo awakes he realizes good has won, and heads home. His processions are auctioned off when he gets home and Bilbo gets most of his stuff back. He then lives a happy life.  Character List: __Bilbo Baggins __- Bilbo is at the beginning of the story, a boring hobbit. After going on this adventure, Bilbo becomes a totally different person. He became brave and courageous. __Thorin __- Heir to a mighty and royal dwarvish family, Thorin is the group’s leader. Because of Thorin’s lineage, the treasure that Smaug guards is technically his. He is sometimes a self-important character and acts on emotion rather than logic in a majority of situations. He is brave and fights with his men rather than have them do all the fighting. __Gandalf __- A famous and powerful wizard, Gandalf helps the group complete a lot of challenges. He tends to disappear a lot, and is explained by the fact that he was fighting necromancers. He is very wise as well, and acts as the groups’ unofficial leader. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Important Quotations Explained: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">1. In the novel, Gandalf says “ I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you. If 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.” Gandalf says this when the dwarves are expressing their discontent about Bilbo being brought along. Gandalf is very correct when he says this because Bilbo does prove himself throughout the journey. He saves the group from the spiders of Mirkwood Forest; he later breaks the dwarves out of their cells when they are captured by the forest elves. Bilbo figures out how to get into the secret entrance at the Lonely Mountain and is the only one brave enough to steal from Smaug. He also saves the group from certain destruction at the hands of the men of the lake. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">2. After Bilbo kills the spider, this quote is said: “Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach.” After this point, Bilbo feels like a totally different person. He is braver throughout the journey, and does not act as cowardly. From this point on, it appears Bilbo is the force that’s holding the dwarves together, not Thorin. Also, hobbits tended to eat a lot, which is why it was remarkable that Bilbo felt this way while still being hungry. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">3. Right before the gang was about to enter Mirkwood, Bilbo was complaining about it. To this Gandalf replied “ You must either go through or give up your quest. There are no safe paths in this part of the world.” This quote basically illustrates the dangers of the world they are in. It sums up the groups journey fairly well. The gang presses forward after this was said. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Themes and Symbols <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">One theme in the novel is bravery. This theme is displayed by the whole group, but mainly by Bilbo. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Being brave is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear. Bilbo steps up to meet any challenge after he realizes what he can do. This transformation mainly happens after he kills the spider. The group itself is also brave, by traveling through dangerous lands to complete their quest. Their brave deeds included dealing with goblins, wargs, spiders, a dragon, and of course a huge war at the end of the novel. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Sleep is very important in any society. This theme is very present in __The Hobbit__, along with the idea of being unconscious. When someone in the quest is unconscious, they seem to miss out on important events or happenings. This seems to happen to Bilbo the most. When he becomes unconscious by hitting his head on a rock, Bilbo loses the group and has to contend with Gollum. At the war at the end of the novel, Bilbo gets knocked unconscious. He misses out entirely on what happened. Sleep is very key as well. When the gang has not had enough sleep, their journey turns miserable. However, when they are well-rested, their journey is not as bad in their minds. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Good and evil are often represented in books, and __The Hobbit__ is no exception. Good and evil in this novel are represented by symbols, and more specifically, by characters. The group compromising of the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf are good. This also includes the eagles, Beorn, the men of the lake, and the elves. Evil is represented through the characters of Smaug, goblins, wargs, trolls, Gollum, and spiders. The fight between these groups of good and evil ends as most novels do with the good side succeeding. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">