The Hobbit: Through Reader Response- Ideal Reader. The Hobbit is a grand adventure with magic, heroism, and imagination. It is often significantly difficult to think that one small individual in the huge world can make a difference. The Hobbit shows the reader that this is not true and that often the most unexpected heroes are among the last that you would expect. It also shows that everyone has internal battles and that only the individual can battle and grow from them. There are many unexpected people and helpers along the way and often the one that you least expect will be the greatest hero and the scariest situations will help you grow the most. Gandalf symbolizes the dwarves God; they look up to him in times of need and he guides them …show more content…
Bilbo is not normally adventurous because he is small and loves the predictability of his life. Every event that he faces, makes Bilbo want to be safely in his home. Bilbo said, “Why, O why did I ever leave my hobbit-hole!” (Tolkien 63). Bilbo comes home a thief and has lost his importance among his people, which prior to the Unexpected Party, he would have considered a horrible event. After returning home Bilbo was considered “queer”, “I am sorry to say he did not mind. He was quite content; and the sound of the kettle on his hearth was ever more musical than it had been even in quiet days before the unexpected party” (Tolkien 275). Bilbo is now ready to assume adult responsibility, and the next major test, confrontation with the spiders, he assumes Gandalf’s role and single-handedly defeats the spiders. Tolkien explicitly links his killing of the spider with Bilbo’s growth; after this act, “he felt a different person, much fiercer and bolder” (Dominick 2). Bilbo’s internal conflict makes him a stronger dwarf and without it he probably would not have become the dwarf that he is after the adventure and he would never have felt the exhilaration and the knowledge that he gained; Bilbo would probably never have become an author had it not been for the Unexpected