1. Enemies, Friends, and Safety
The Hobbit Pages

2. Ominous Imagery
Theme of natural things being good and familiar and safe
Personified boulders as “galloping”
Pathetic fallacy of “silence seemed to dislike being broken”
Verisimilitude of Gandalf’s background knowledge of larger problems (53)

3. Paradox
“He knew that something unexpected might happen.” (53)

4. For your consideration
How does Tolkien use metonym and personification on page 53 to describe the setting?

5. Epigram Short saying dealing with a real subject in a humorous way
Tolkien uses these to communicate information while lightening mood
“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something.” (55)

6. Foreshadowing of Trouble
“Caves up in the mountains were seldom unoccupied.” (55)
So, what can we expect from this apparently empty cave?

7. For your consideration
Howling wind and growling thunder (56)
What literary technique is Tolkien using here?
What is he doing by using it?

8. Luck, Fate, and Choice
Bilbo chose not to sleep; however, was he also lucky? Or was this fate?

9. Light and Darkness
Gandalf produces a “flash like lightning” to defend himself and the companions.
On the other hand, the goblins drag the captives into the “deep, deep dark.”
Consistently, Tolkien uses motifs of light for good and dark for evil.

10. For your consideration
Again, we get a song from a new group of individuals, this time the goblins (58)
What character traits are revealed here that differentiate the goblins from the dwarves and elves?

11. Creation and Destruction
“They [Goblins] make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones.” (59)
Evil is only capable of destroying beauty, not creating it
This is why they sort of hide from nature

12. Epithets Have Meanings
Remember, for Tolkien, names and words have great power
The Great Goblin
Thorin Oakenshield
Thieves, murderers, friends of Elves
Goblin-cleaver vs. Biter
What is the purpose of each epithet?

13. Thorin and Orcrist
The sword definitively turns the goblins against the dwarves
Why did Thorin decide to take that one in the first place?
What might Tolkien be saying about this particular quality of Thorin’s?

14. Three Leaders; One Question
Thorin, Gandalf, and the Great Goblin are all leaders; which of them does the best job here?
What leadership quality really stands out here?

15. Why is Bilbo Uncomfortable?
Bilbo hates the goblin tunnels, but he lives in a tunneled out area of a hill.
Why so picky?

16. Situational Irony
Tolkien is pretty good at using situational irony to set up contrasts between internal and external characteristics
Check out the description of Bilbo and hobbits on page 66
What sorts of contrasts are set up here?

17. For your consideration
Before the riddles even start, we get a ton of information about Gollum and his history
What do we know about Gollum by the end of page 69?
How does Tolkien communicate this?

18. Man vs. Himself
Internal conflicts abound during the episode with Bilbo and Gollum and the ring
How can it be said that Bilbo was successful because he was able to use his best and suppress his worst qualities? How does Gollum kind of defeat himself?

19. Parallel Structure
In the riddling episode and afterwards, Tolkien often uses the same sentence structures and ideas to show the contrast between Bilbo and Gollum, even though they are sharing a circumstance
This is meant to highlight the good qualities of one and the bad qualities of the other

20. What’s Up With the Ring?
What do we learn about the Ring, its effects, its abilities, and its overall quality?

21. For your consideration
Between pages 85 and 87, we learn quite a bit about how Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves prioritize selfish desires and the needs of their friends. What do we learn about each party?
Bilbo seems reluctant to talk about the Ring. Why? Is this a problem?

22. Motifs and Themes
As the shadows lengthen, the evil wolves and goblins come out to harass the good guys
The good guys find refuge in the trees
Gandalf makes fire to help keep them safe
See the patterns here?

23. Cooperation
The dwarven party only survives this encounter long enough to be saved by the eagles because they all work together.
This, generally, is a characteristic that Tolkien ascribes to good, not evil, characters.

24. See What I Mean?
“Those that were burning were running about howling and setting others alight, till their own friends chased them away and they fled off down the slopes crying and yammering and looking for water.” (96)

25. For your consideration
The second goblin song (98-99) seems to agree thematically with the first. What negative characteristics does it reveal?

26. Here Come the Eagles
The eagles are naturally good because of their nature.
What does their help of the dwarves and Bilbo and Gandalf signal about the mission?

27. Deus Ex Machina “God in the Machine”
Basically, authors utilize this technique to create miraculous solutions to otherwise impossible problems
The eagles are Tolkien’s go-to deus ex machina device

28. For your consideration
On page 104, Bilbo dreams of his home, but he seems to not be able to find or recognize something. Any idea what he might have lost forever by this point?