Posted in The Hobbit
I feel like a kid reading this story again. ;) Everything is coming back to me as I read and it’s fun remembering all the little details. There are so many silly, childlike things about this book, but that's just what I love about it.
I think it would be funny to go back and count how many times Bilbo wished that he were back in his home at Bag End; he seemed to do it CONSTANTLY. Imagine living in a cozy hole eating 8 meals a day for your whole life and then being whisked off on a mad adventure to obtain a dragon's treasure with 13 dwarves and a very eccentric old wizard. Hahahahaha!!
But actually, I can entirely understand the way Bilbo feels. Christianity isn't exactly a comfortable sort of religion. You have to stretch yourself and put yourself in some pretty awkward positions if you're really willing to do what God's asking you to do. Sometimes I step back, look at myself and think, "What kind of insanity is this? I could be normal and act like everyone else and then people wouldn't see me as a nut. How much easier would life be then?" It's like a mad adventure (think Pilgrim's Progress). But if Bilbo had stayed home in his nice, warm hole he would have missed out on a lot. He would have been a different person at the end of it all. Think about it; if he hadn't gone, he wouldn't have obtained the ring, he wouldn't have had his cravings for adventure later on in life and passed on the ring to his nephew, his nephew wouldn't have carried it, and well, Middle-earth would have been a very different place. Every big thing starts out in a small place.
Discussion Questions
1. What kind of a hobbit is Bilbo? What are some words that you think describe him?
2. Did he find the ring on accident?
3. Just for kicks, what was one of the lines that just made you laugh out loud? ;)
Read chapters 7-12 for next time.
Have fun!
Sylvia
Sep. 30, 2008 - Discussion Notes
I am totally enjoying reading this agian. I laughed out loud quite a few times while I was reading it. It's just such an amazing story. Tolkien was truly a master story-teller.
1. Bilbo is almost like a fulfillment of what hobbits are supposed to be. I mean, when I think of hobbits, I think of their strong humble side, and not their merry-making. That's why I think Bilbo and Frodo live up to being hobbits more than other hobbits. That didn't make sense.
2. No. way. I have a hunch that the point was that the ring was trying to get to his master, and it thought Bilbo would be a chance to get closer. Haha! But we fooled it by departing on our noble quest to destroy it! okay. that didn't make sense either.
3. "Confusticate and bebother these dwarves!" and Then When Gandalf says:"What Do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?" Bilbo:"All of them
at once!" lol! Oh, and also when Gollum says "Is it nice? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?" That got me too.
Oct. 12, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Ooh, sorry I haven't posted anything! I've only been able to read Chapter 1 (I'm reading it aloud to my younger sisters, so it's slow going :-) ) and in the meantime Dad had to go to the hospital and we were doing school and I had a Nancy Drew book going with my sibs as well! But anyway, I sofar LOVE the opening sentence, and basically anything Bilbo says! (Will post back soon.)
~PIP~
Dec. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment
I know I'm kinda jumping into the middle, but one of my favorite lines is when Bilbo "began to feel a shriek coming up inside, and very soonit burst out like the whistle of an engine coming out of a tunnel." And from there on is just hilarious, especially "Struck by lightning! Struck by lightning!" :D
Can I join your group? I'd love to!!
Eowyn