87 Selection Review #1 The Hobbit Chapters 1-3 1. What are the two sides of Bilbo’s personality? What role do these two sides play in his feelings about the dwarves’ adventure? The two sides of Bilbo’s personality come from the two sides of his family, the Tooks and the Bagginses. His Baggins side is very ordinary, re- spectable and predictable. It likes things to be orderly and comfortable. However, the Took side of Bilbo’s personality is more mysterious, daring, and adventurous. The Baggins side of Bilbo wishes that the dwarves had never come barging into his house with their crazy talk of mountains and dragons. However, his Took side is thrilled with their songs of faraway places. It leads him to decide that he will show the dwarves that he can indeed be a fierce and daring “burglar” when the need arises. 2. Describe the dwarves and tell where they come from. What is their goal? The dwarves are underground craftsmen in precious metals and stone. They once lived with a huge amount of treasure under a Mountain far to the east. A terrible dragon stole their treasure, killed their families, and destroyed the countryside around the Mountain. They are returning to the Moun- tain to take revenge on the dragon and recover the treasure. 3. Who is Gandalf? What is his relationship to the dwarves? What part does he expect Bilbo to play in their plan? Gandalf is a famous, powerful wizard. The dwarves consider him their friend and counselor. They asked him to find a fourteenth person to join them since they think thirteen is unlucky. Bilbo was Gandalf’s choice. Gandalf sees possibilities in Bilbo that he himself is not aware of. He calls Bilbo a “burglar” because he expects Bilbo to cleverly help the dwarves to steal their treasure back. 4. Describe the settings of the first three chapters. In what ways is Bilbo’s world different from our world? In what ways is it similar? The setting of the first chapter is Bilbo Baggins’ comfortable home, a cozy, well-stocked hole in the ground. Most of the second chapter is set in a wild, frightening forest on a dismal, rainy night. The third chapter takes us to the warm, safe home of Elrond in Rivendell, the last place of safety before the Misty Mountains. All of the story is set long, long ago in a fantasy world peopled by such magical beings as dwarves, wizards, elves, trolls, goblins and of course hobbits. The magic makes their world different from ours. However, it is also similar to ours in many ways. The characters’ feelings and be- havior toward one another have all the good and bad moments of relationships between peo- ple in the real world. The characters also have to deal with everyday problems, such as dishwashing and gloomy rainy days. Just as natural laws govern our world, their magic also works within definite limits. continued... 88 5. How do Bilbo’s mistakes bring on trouble with the trolls? How are the travelers res- cued? When Bilbo discovers the trolls, he decides to prove his skill as a burglar instead of going back to warn the dwarves of danger. The purse he tries to steal begins to talk and alerts the trolls. Soon the dwarves are all captured and Bilbo is trapped in a tree. Gandalf returns and rescues them by mimicking the trolls’ voices. He keeps them quarrelling amongst themselves until dawn comes and turns them to stone. 6. What important things do the travelers learn at Rivendell? How might these discover- ies help them in the future? At Rivendell, the travelers learn that the swords they found in the trolls’ cave are magical swords made to fight goblins. They are glad to hear this since they expect trouble with goblins on their journey. They also learn that there is more secret writing on Thorin’s map. This writing gives them mysterious instructions about how to enter the secret door to the dragon’s cave under the Mountain. 89 Selection Review #2 The Hobbit Chapters 4-6 1. Give examples of some of the onomatopoeic words used to describe the goblins. What do these words suggest about the goblins’ nature? How do the goblins capture Bilbo and the dwarves, and how do the travelers escape from them? The writer describes the goblins using onomatopoeic words like snap, grab, crash, crush, smash, yammering, and jabbering. These words suggest that the goblins are noisy, violent, cruel, and destructive. The goblins open a crack in the back wall of the cave where Bilbo and the dwarves are hiding, and take them all prisoner. The travelers escape when Gandalf, who has been following them, blinds the goblins with a flash from his magic wand. 2. Describe the creature that Bilbo encounters at the underground lake. Why does he want to play a riddle game with Bilbo? How does he react when Bilbo wins the game? When Bilbo reaches the underground lake, he encounters Gollum, a horrible slimy creature that lives on an island and eats fish and young goblins when he can catch them. Gollum offers to play a riddle game with Bilbo because he wants to find out more about him without facing his magical sword. When Bilbo wins, however, he is furious. He decides to put on a magic ring that makes him invisible so that he can kill Bilbo. 3. Why does Bilbo have Gollum’s ring? How does it help him to escape the cave? Why is finding the ring a “turning point” in Bilbo’s career? Bilbo found the ring when he was crawling through the tunnels in the dark. He put it in his pocket and later asked Gollum what was in his pocket to win the riddle game. When Gollum tries to catch Bilbo to kill him, Bilbo slips on the ring and Gollum goes past without seeing him. Bilbo follows Gollum to the gob- lins’ back door. When the goblins try to catch him, he puts the ring on again and manages to slip out through the crack of the heavy stone door. Finding the ring is a turning point in Bilbo’s career since it will help him to become a good “burglar,” as the dwarves expect him to be. 4. Why doesn’t Bilbo tell the dwarves and Gandalf about finding the magic ring? Why is this disturbing? Bilbo does not tell the others about the magic ring because he enjoys having a secret magical power that they do not know about. He also enjoys making them think that he could escape from Gollum and the goblins thanks to his own cleverness and skill. However, in order to keep up this act Bilbo has to lie to his friends. This dishonesty is disturbing be- cause Bilbo has always been honest in the past. 90 Selection Review #3 The Hobbit Chapters 7-8 1. Why and how does Gandalf take precautions to avoid annoying Beorn? In what ways is Beorn’s point of view both similar to and different from that of the dwarves? How does Beorn help them on their journey? Gandalf is careful not to annoy Beorn because he is a very large, powerful man who can change into an enormous bear when he wants to. Although Beorn is warm-hearted, he has a quick temper. For these reasons Gandalf introduces the party of travelers to him gradually. He warns Bilbo and the dwarves not to mention anything to do with furs in Beorn’s presence because Beorn is a lover of animals. Gandalf also warns the travelers to stay in the house at night, when Beorn is out prowling in the form of a bear. Like the dwarves, Beorn hates evil creatures such as goblins and wolves, but he does not share the dwarves’ love of treasure. However, Beorn helps the travelers on their way by lend- ing them ponies to ride, giving them generous provisions of food and water, and offering them valuable advice. 2. Explain why Bilbo and the dwarves feel so upset when they reach Mirkwood. What warn- ings were they given about going through the enchanted forest? The travelers feel de- pressed when they reach Mirkwood because it is a place of gloom and death. They are sorry they have to send the borrowed ponies back to Beorn, and Gandalf tells them he is leaving them just as they reach what seems to be the most dangerous part of their journey. The travelers have been warned to stay on the path through the forest at any cost, and not to drink or bathe in the black stream that crosses the path. 3. How does Bombur’s accident at the stream make the travelers’ journey more difficult? Why do they decide to leave the path in spite of Gandalf and Beorn’s warnings? Why is this ironic? When the travelers cross the enchanted stream, Bombur accidentally falls in. He falls into a deep sleep and the other dwarves have to carry or drag him through the forest with them for several days. The travelers decide to leave the path because they are out of food and terribly hungry. Bombur wakes up and tells them he dreamed about a wonderful feast in the forest, so when the dwarves see lights among the branches, they (wrongly) think that Bombur’s dream is coming true. They also believe (mistakenly) that they are far from the forest’s edge because they sent Bilbo up a tree to look, and he reported that the forest went on as far as he could see.