The Hobbit Themes

Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away the break of day,

To seek the pale enchanted gold.

Tolkien (21)

The Hobbit is a story that takes place in Middle Earth-a fictional place with mystical creatures-created by J.R.R. Tolkien. The main character, Bilbo Baggins -a hobbit- is asked by a powerful wizard named Gandalf to accompany a group of thirteen dwarves to take back there home. A mighty dragon named Smaug is guarding the land and heaps of gold and jewels. There treacherous journey across wooded areas, open fields, misty mountains, dark forests and multiple meadows creates many opportunities for lessons to be learned. An important theme in Tolkien’s adventure fantasy novel, is that that through the trust of others people gain confidence in their actions and thoughts; this theme is best illustrated through the novel’s characters, plot and craft.

The first time this happens is when the dwarves nominate Bilbo Baggins to go and see what the strange light is, Bilbo - at first nervous - goes out to investigate because his peers trust him. With Bilbo's new found confidence, he - still nervous but not petrified- goes out to investigate what the light is. Another time is when the dwarves do not like his plan. When he tells all thirteen of them what his plan was for escaping the elves, they think it is a bad idea and do not trust it. Bilbo thus loses confidence. “‘We thought you had got some sensible notion, when you managed to get a hold of the keys. This is a mad idea!’ ‘Very well!’ said Bilbo very downcast, (Tolkin