Bilbo Baggins Identity Quotes

The hobbit was suffering from an identity crisis. Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit in question, had two sides to him. His Took side and his Baggins side. The latter was considered more respectable than the former. Simply for the reason that, and I quote, “They never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him.” (Tolkien 4) Tooks, however, although they were richer, were not considered to be respectable because of the clan’s weakness for adventures. Bilbo was both Took and Baggins, and at the beginning of his journey, displayed obvious Baggins qualities and did not think much of adventures. However, beneath his proper surface, Bilbo had a Tookish thirst

just waiting to be quenched. Bilbo goes on a fantastic adventure that changes his personality very much. He discovers the beauty of adventures and for once, his chief worry is not about dinner.

At the start of his tale, Bilbo is sitting outdoors blowing smoke rings, when the he is approached by a strange visitor who he later discovers is Gandalf, Old Took’s old friend. Through a pleasant exchange of remarks, Gandalf offers to send Bilbo on an adventure he promises will be very profitable to the little hobbit. “In fact I will go so far as to send you on this adventure. Very amusing for me, very good for you-and profitable too.” (Tolkien 8) Bilbo previously expressed excitement over the subject of adventuring: “Bless me, life used to be quite inter-I mean you used to upset things badly in these parts once upon a time,” (Tolkien 8 and 9) but concealed it with a well placed remark. This shows that Bilbo has a desire to explore and adventure beyond his home in the Hill. The following day, his invitation to Gandalf for tea is forgotten until the doorbell rings. In come parties of dwarves who literally devour his entire pantry, and upon finishing, bring out instruments to sing an eerie yet informative song about long lost treasure beneath a mountain. The dwarves’ song awakens Bilbo’s Tookish side and his desire to see the places the song describes. “Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick,” (Tolkien 19) Then, the song shifts to fires and destruction bringing back his Baggins side. At the end of the dwarvish ballad, the leader of the traveling party, the esteemed Thorin Oakenshield begins to explain the purpose of the journey to Bilbo, and when he talks of the dangers of the adventure, Bilbo falls down in a fit in which the only words he can say are “struck by lightning, struck by lightning!” (Tolkien 20) As he recovers on a sofa, he hears the chatter of the dwarves in the room beyond. The dwarves are doubtful about his qualifications for the job he is undertaking, and make derogatory comments about his “fierceness”. Bilbo indignantly marches in allowing his Took side to take over. He rashly accepts to go on the adventure as the group’s resident burglar. At this point, his Took side has made appearances, but his Baggins side is still his primary side because it’s the side he’s been living for most of his life.

In this middle part of his adventure, Bilbo is just setting off; this is where the peak of identity crisis occurs.

He is mostly Took in the spirit of adventuring, but when times get hard, he reverts back to his Baggins self wishing he was back in his cozy hobbit hole with a full belly. At this point, the dwarves don’t have faith in his burglarizing experiences, and consider him to be extra baggage that they are only carrying on because of Gandalf’s request. Bilbo himself has little faith in his abilities often relying on luck to get him out of scrapes. He has not yet earned the respect of his fellow travelers. At this point of the story, the group has experienced many trials and tribulations such as: a run in with trolls, a helpful visit to Elrond (Gandalf friend), and a brief time as prisoners of the goblins. It is the last incident, that restored Bilbo’s faith himself, and also won over the respect of his fellow travelers. The traveling party was journeying through the mountains when a fierce storm began to brew, causing them to find shelter in a cave. The shelter is actually the entrance to the goblins’ lair. The goblins discover them and take them prisoner, delivering them to the Great Goblin who notices they have Orcrist, a sword responsible for the deaths of many goblins. He flies into mad rage, causing him to lunge at the dwarves in fury. At that moment, Gandalf waves his wand, causing the lights to go out in the cavern eliciting confusion. In the ensuing chaos, Gandalf slews the Great Goblin and leads the group to the exit. Regrettably, this act does not go unnoticed by the rest of the goblins, so they chase after the travelers. Bilbo, being a terrible long distance runner, is picked up and carried by Dori who gets grabbed from behind and drops the hobbit. Bilbo hits his head on a rock and faints, going unnoticed by his peers. When he awakens, Bilbo is disoriented and decides to travel down the tunnel. Finally, he reaches the end and stumbles

upon Gollum, a strange creature who lives in the dark, preying on fish and unfortunate goblins. His chief possession is a golden invisibility ring that Bilbo finds and absentmindedly takes. A heated riddle battle is fought, ending with the loser (Gollum) taking the winner (Bilbo) to the exit. The goblins notice a disturbance, running to the site of the commotion. Gollum is captured, but Bilbo slips on the ring and escapes. He finds the traveling party, and surprises them delightfully. After his legendary escape from the notorious goblins, he gains the respect of the dwarves, the praise of Gandalf, and best of all, belief in himself.
The escape from the goblins is what made Bilbo’s Tookish side here to stay. He is now at one with the spirit of adventuring, and seldom wishes to go home; except at times of extreme discomfort. It is at this time of the story, when Gandalf finalizes his decision to leave the travelers and pursue some urgent business of his own. This is where the group must rely on their own strengths and abilities to deliver them to their destination and defeat Smaug. Bilbo is particularly adept at getting his fellows out of predicaments therefore proving himself to be quite the burglar and an important member of the group. One example would be how he planned the escape from the elf king’s prison, “Bilbo discovered a very interesting thing: the great gates were not the only entrance to the caves. A stream flowed under part of the lowest regions of the palace and joined the Forest River some way further to the east, beyond the steep slope out of which the main mouth opened. When the barrels were empty the elves cast them through the trapdoors, opened the water-gate, and out the barrels floated on the stream bobbing along until they were carried by the current to a place far down the river where the bank jutted out, near the very eastern edge of Mirkwood. There they were collected and tied together and floated back to Lake-town…. For some time Bilbo sat and thought about this water-gate, and wondered if it could be used for the escape of his friends, and at last he had the desperate beginnings of a plan.” (Tolkien 191, 192, and 193) This shows that Bilbo’s Tookish side is his foremost personality at this point in The Hobbit. Another climactic moment of Bilbo’s is when he withheld the Arkenstone from Thorin and gave it to the enemy, so they could use it as a bargaining chip to try to stop the conflict. It was a brave move because if he was ever discovered, he would be considered a traitor to his side, severing his alliance with the dwarves. Bilbo’s deed was not forgotten, and Thorin renounced his friendship with Bilbo after learning what he had done. Then a battle to defeat the wargs and goblins enacted, and all prior conflict ceased for the moment. Bilbo was nearly out of Tookishness, and cowered beneath a rock during the battle. At this point in the story, he is exhausted and homesick. The Baggins side is beginning to come back towards the end of the tale. However, whilst lying on his deathbed Thorin took back all he had said and wished that Bilbo would forgive him for his harsh words. Bilbo forgave Thorin and wept over the death of his friend. Following the sad turn of events, he collected his share of the treasure, and after an extended stay at the mountain finally returned home.