Evil In The Hobbit

433 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay for seventh grade on the hobbit

True Evil can only be defined as a being so vile and wicked that no feeling is present other than greed, and fury, and hatred. Two antagonists share these qualities in J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit. First comes the creature Gollum, a small, twisted creature living deep under the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. Next comes Smaug, the dragon, brutal, bold, and strong. Smaug is the reason for the quest, the reason Thorin and Co. must regain their home under The Lonely Mountain. Together, these two antagonists, show true evil in their cunning, greed, and hatred.
Bilbo, the main protagonist, first meets Gollum far under the Misty Mountains after an escape from goblins. Bilbo, all alone by an underground lake, is dismayed to hear a faint hiss, saying, “Bless us and splash us, my precioussss! I guess it’s a choice feast; at least a tasty morsel it’d make us, …show more content…

Smaug knows exactly how to get anything, and has the means to do it. His natural-born greed for gold coupled with his insatiable bloodlust make him the perfect combination of pure evil. When Bilbo tells Smaug their purpose, he is enraged. "Revenge!" he snorted, and the light of his eyes lit the hall from floor to ceiling like scarlet lightning. "Revenge! The King under the Mountain is dead and where are his kin that dare seek revenge? Girion Lord of Dale is dead, and I have eaten his people like a wolf among sheep, and where are his sons’ sons that dare approach me? I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows!" he gloated. "My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tall a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!" Smaug truly is strong, and a combination of greed and strength make Smaug

Show More
Related

  • Bilbo Hero Quotes

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Bilbo encounters the strange creature Gollum, he enters into a game of riddles with the creature in order to buy more time. Bilbo’s wit enables him to prevail as he asks the final question, at first to himself, “What have I got in my pocket?” (78). Another example of Bilbo’s cunning wit would be his encounter with the great dragon Smaug. Smaug is a much more daunting opponent this time. As Smaug attempts to lure Bilbo into his hall, Bilbo proceeds to flatter the dragon and talk in riddles. “This is of course the way to talk to dragons, if you don’t want to reveal your proper name (which is wise), and don’t want to infuriate them by a flat refusal (which is also very wise)” (223). Bilbo’s cunning tactics establish Bilbo as being capable of conquering his enemies not with total force, but with the clever use of

    Read More

  • Archetypes In The Hobbit

    1430 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every story has characters with different roles, and each of them are important to make the story complete. Three characters, Bilbo, Gandalf, and Smaug represent three archetypal roles in this story. Their guide Gandalf, represents the mentor, Bilbo represents the hero, and Smaug represents the shadow. Smaug symbolizes fear to the characters, and the dragon represents one of the characters that are most often causing the most terror and trouble to the other characters in the story. The hobbit symbolizes the hero of the story, because he sacrifices himself throughout the book. Mr. Bilbo Baggins learns more and more each day, and he tries to always do the right thing. Gandalf symbolizes the guidance and help as a mentor, and he provides training and motivation to the characters. These three important characters greatly explain the

    Read More

  • Examples Of Bilbo In The Hobbit

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    Within J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Tolkien uses the character of Bilbo Baggins to reveal to the reader the constant struggle between heroic and anti-heroic qualities within Bilbo and ourselves.

    Read More

  • Hobbit Final

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Good vs. Evil is portrayed in The Hobbit through many different events and characters throughout the novel. Showing us that what we may think, may not always be want it really is. Bilbo had no doubt in his mind they would fail on their mission. Yet with all odds against them they won, good defeated evil, just like in the Bible God watches out for his children and protects them from evil, but they have to make the right choices, and work for his respect and honor.

    Read More

  • Similes In The Hobbit

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    This story begins with a small fellow by the name of Bilbo Baggins. This fantasy story was written in 1956 by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is about a hero’s journey through the dangers and wonders of Middle Earth. Although it was not meant to become such a well-known book, it is filled with much literature. Throughout the book, Tolkien uses literary devices such as repetition, similes, and metaphors to develop the theme of cunning and cleverness.

    Read More

  • Bilbo Baggins' Transformation Depicted in Tolkien's The Hobbit

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Tolkein, 227) This shows that Bilbo’s character really changes because he is insulting Smaug, but underneath his breath. After the conversation, Bilbo heads back to the dwarves and tells them everything. This is a very brave thing that Bilbo has done. All in all, Bilbo has changed a great deal in The Hobbit.

    Read More

  • The Hobbit Greed Essay

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    Smaug is depicted as being equally obsessed with wealth and treasure. Thorin describe Smaug as the average dragon when he says, “Dragons steal gold and jewels, you know, from men and elves and dwarves, wherever they can find them; and they guard their plunder as long as they live, and never enjoy a brass ring of it” (23). As the dwarves cannot delight in the treasure, Smaug chooses to not do anything with the wealth. Although it is under Smaug’s control, he becomes possessive over it. After Bilbo steals a cup from the Smaug’s hoard to take back to Thorin to prove that there is treasure in the mountain, Smaug awakens and notices that the cup is gone. Immediately, he becomes furious. Tolkien writes, “His rage passes description – the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but never before used or wanted” (200). Because Smaug devotes his life to things that cannot satisfy, he becomes possessed by them. Smaug cannot stand to have one small piece of useless treasure taken away from him, because he values worldly riches over life itself, which causes his

    Read More

  • Evil in 'Grendel': A Complex Perspective

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dictionary.com defines evil as “the wicked or immoral part of someone or something.” Within the novel, Grendel by John Gardner evil is inescapable as this topic is discussed throughout the novel. Though the story holds a resemblance to its inspiration of the epic Beowulf in its portrayal of Grendel, it fails to highlight the underlying evil within the Anglo-Saxon’s and their values. Gardner’s novel reveals that evil is everywhere as it is seen in not only Grendel's but also in human lives and is presented in a more complex way than the epic as both have their own dark sides.

    Read More

  • Comparing Good and Evil in Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

    2386 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Tolkien world, evil is the antithesis of creativity, and is dependent on destruction and ruin for its basis. Conversely, goodness is associated with the beauty of creation as well as the preservation of anything that is created. The symbolic nature of these two ideologies is represented in the Elven Rings, which symbolize goodness, and the One Ring, which is wholly evil. A main theme of "The Hobbit", then, is the struggle within our own free will between good will and evil. "Early in the (Lord of the Rings) narrative, Frodo recalls that his uncle Bilbo, especially during his later years, was fond of declaring that… there was only one Road; that it was lik...

    Read More

  • Inherent Evil in Lord of the Flies

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lord of the Flies provides one with a clear understanding of Golding's view of human nature.  Whether this view is right or wrong is a point to be debated.  This image Golding paints for the reader, that of humans being inherently bad, is a perspective not all people share.   Lord of the Flies is but an abstract tool of Golding's to construct the idea of the inherent evil of human nature in the minds of his readers.  To construct this idea of the inherent evil, Golding employs the symbolism of Simon, Ralph, the hunt and the island.

    Read More

  • The Hobbit: Thematic Analysis

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bilbo begins his long journey with the dwarves, who at the time were still skeptical of Bilbo’s abilities. The dwarves didn’t see why they needed such a small incompetent hobbit with them along their journey. Gandalf tells them to stop complaining and to trust that there is more to Bilbo than meets the eye (Tolkien 6). Bilbo soon shows his courage and heroism for the first time in the story when they run into their first obstacle, three large trolls huddled around a campfire. Bilbo, who was once a shy, non-adventurous type, begins to develop into a hero as he tries to steal one of the trolls’ money purses. This is a dramatic scene in the novel because it was Bilbo’s very first act outside his comfort zone. It was this...

    Read More

  • The Lord of the Rings: Our Motivation in Committing Evil Acts

    3559 Words  | 8 Pages

    The following analysis deals with the nature and source of evil and whether, given our innate motives and moral obligation, we willingly choose to succumb to our desires or are slaves of our passion. From this argument, I intend to show that our human nature requires that we play into our desires in order to affirm our free will. This is not to say that our desires are necessarily evil, but quite the opposite. In some sense, whatever people actually want has some relative value to them, and that all wanted things contain some good. But given that there are so many such goods and a whole spectrum of varying arrangements among them, that there is no way we can conceive anything as embodying an overall good just because it is to some degree wanted by one or a group of persons. In this light, there arises conflict which can only be resolved by a priority system defined by a code, maybe of moral foundations, which allows us to analyze the complexities of human motivation. I do not intend to set down the boundaries of such a notion, nor do I want to answer whether it benefits one to lead a morally good life, but rather want to find out how the constructs of good and evil affect our freedom to choose.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Good And Evil In Beowulf

    1565 Words  | 4 Pages

    Once upon a time, in a land far away, the clash between good and evil resided in the heart of every story. From oral tales of the Anglo-Saxon period, to the novels of today, heavenly heroes versus menacing monsters have weaved stories throughout time. For example, in the the epic poem, Beowulf, the warriors and heroes, like Beowulf and Wiglaf, represent the good within the story. The creatures, such as Grendel and the dragon, illustrate the evil. The settings also portray both sides as well, with examples being Herot and The Lair. Good and evil are represented in many ways in Beowulf, and each of those ways gives a message regarding one of them to the reader.

    Read More

  • Good Vs. Evil In The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe

    491 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Children’s literature, the characters are good or bad. The author attempts to teach the children without confusing them. They are learning right from wrong when doing this. In the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Clive Staples Lewis uses this in his novel with his characters. “He parallels the difference between right and wrong” (“Faith”). In the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lewis shows good vs. evil and the archetypes hero and villain in his novel.

    Read More

  • greed leads to disaster

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    J.R.R Tolkien artfully depicts in The Hobbit how greed often leads to a disastrous outcome. Greed can strike every type of person, even the leader of a group. Thorin, the leader of the dwarves, is plagued by greed for the wealth inside the mountain. Secondary characters can also be drawn into greed. The spiders attempt to harness the most amount of food for the group, but end up losing all of the food. (Linker) The disastrous end to the antagonists is mainly due to greed. For one, Smaug wants revenge for the missing golden cup. After many days of fighting, Smaug is killed during the battle of the lake men. Society as a whole believes the need for materialistic goods is worth the agony required to obtain them.

    Read More

More about Evil In The Hobbit

Open Document