These are NOT questions to answer for Tuesday's class, since we'll have an in-class writing response. However, here are some ideas to think about for Tuesday's class. We'll write about one or more of these ideas...
* In Chapter Eight, after fighting the spiders, Bilbo says, “I will give you a name,” he said to it,” and I shall call you Sting” (142). Why do you think he names his sword, which clearly isn’t a legendary weapon like “Beater” or “Biter”? Why might this also illustrate the transformation going on in Bilbo by this point in the novel?
* Related to the above, how does Bilbo become more and more a surrogate for Gandalf on their quest? Do you think this is what Gandalf intended for him to become all along? Or is this a new, unexpected development?
* Unlike most novels, Tolkein’s narrator is almost a character in the novel, full of coy hints about the world’s history, and riddling sense of humor. Where do we most see the narrator intrude on the story itself, and why do you think he does this? Why not just tell the story ‘straight’?
* What do the elves seem to represent for Tolkein, since they are
the greatest race in Middle Earth? Why, too, are they people of “the gloaming
and the dusk”?
* Why do the people of
* Earlier in the book, Gandalf suggests that Middle Earth is a world in decline, a world where heroes and warriors are scarce, and even a burglar is hard to find. How might these later chapters start to explain why this is?
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