The Hobbit Book Log #7

11/17/12

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Pages 102-111

            If you recall in the previous section, our group of adventurers had tried to hide in a tree from wolves.  In this one, the wolves discover them in the tree.  Then, it just so happened that wargs and goblins were showing up because they were planning a meeting.  Worried about what might happen to them, Gandalf tries to fend off the creatures by throwing flaming pinecones at them, starting a big fire in the forest.  However, the creatures tame the flames and start directing them towards the trees that the dwarves are in.  Just before the trees are engulfed in flames, they are all saved by eagles who owe a debt Gandalf.  They are all taken to the eagle’s perch in the mountain where the eagles feed the adventurers. 

            “At best of times, heights made Bilbo giddy.  He used to turn queer if he looked over the edge of quite a little cliff; and he had never liked ladders, let alone trees (never having had to escape from wolves before).  This is an important quote because recently in the story we have seen great feats of bravery from Bilbo.  Also during this part, Bilbo is hanging from someone’s leg, not feeling he can hold on any longer; ready to drop at any moment.  This reminds us that he is still a fragile little hobbit, not completely ready for this adventure. 

            While Bilbo is being taken to the eagle’s perch, he looks down at the land below him and begins to feel queasy.  Being afraid of heights, this experience makes him feel very, very sick. I can relate to this because, while not completely afraid of heights, being at high altitudes makes me feel a little anxious.  I am hardly able to be at the top of eagle tower without feeling that I can’t go any higher.  I don’t think I could be any higher than that.  For me, it’s the fear of falling that really gets to me, just like Bilbo.

The Hobbit Book Log #6

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

11/10/12

Pages 91-100

            This section begins with Bilbo walking away from the mountain where he escaped from Gollum and Goblins.  As he walks away from the mountain he wonders if he should go back to look for the rest of the dwarves in the mountain, but soon finds them at a campfire.  They are all happy to see him, but are very surprised that he had escaped from the goblins.  He told them how he managed to escape, but decided not to tell them about the ring.  As night began to fall, they set out to continue their journey, but they were without food.  As they walked through a forest, they started to hear wolves.  They ran and decided to hide in trees. 

            “I brought him, and I don’t bring things that are of no use.  Either you help me to look for him, or I go and leave you to get out of the mess as best you can.  If we can only find him again, you will thank me before this is all over.”  This quote said by Gandalf shows that he has faith in not only his choice to bring Bilbo along, but also in Bilbo.  In the previous section, we’ve seen that Bilbo is capable of making good choices in a heartbeat and will be able to help the team of dwarves immensely.

When the dwarves run from the wolves they climb into trees.  I can relate to that, but only in the sense of climbing the tree, not running from anything. Well, I probably shouldn’t say that because I may have used the tree I used to climb all the time as a hiding spot for hide and seek when I was a lot younger.  The tree I’m talking about is a very big tree, and used to be very good for climbing.  I would always climb it with friends and family, and it would be used for games like hide and go seek, and playing things like army or something like that.

The Hobbit Book Log #5

11/3/12

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Pages 64-77

            In this section, Bilbo awakens alone from unconsciousness in the dark.  He feels a ring on the ground and without thinking slips it in his pocket.  Not, knowing what to do, he moves through a river to try and find his way out.  He soon meets a small humanlike creature named Gollum who intends to murder and eat Bilbo.  He gives Bilbo a chance to save himself through a game of riddles.  They exchange riddles and answers, and Bilbo ends up winning.  Gollum decides to use his magic ring to turn in visible and sneak up on Bilbo.  When he can’t find the ring, he blames Bilbo and chases after him.  Bilbo puts the ring that he has in his pocket on his finger, and turns invisible, disappearing from Gollum.

            “He guessed as well as he could, and crawled along for a good way, till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel.  It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it.  He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking; certainly it did not seem of any particular use at the moment.”  This is an important part in the book, because for anyone who knows anything about The Lord of the Rings series could guess that this is the special ring that will turn you invisible. It starts a major part in the story that becomes vital to Bilbo’s own story. 

            During Bilbo’s riddle contest with Gollum, Bilbo is unable to think of a riddle and hesitates to put out a riddle.  Gollum starts to pressure him and backs him into a corner, and Bilbo continues to get more and more nervous.  I kind of know what that’s like because one many years ago time I was in a room with an old dog.  It began to back me into a corner and I got really nervous.  The dog started barking and I screamed.  My dad came in and backed the dog away from me.  It’s really a scary experience to be backed into a wall by something that seems to be threatening you.

The Hobbit Book Log #4

10/25/2012

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Pages 55-63

            In this section, our group of adventurers embark on a journey through a mountain.  Soon after they enter a cave to escape the weather, they are abducted by goblins.  They try and fight back, but it’s no use and they are all brought to the Great Goblin.  The Great Goblin interrogates the dwarves (and Bilbo), but won’t believe that they aren’t spies.  Just before the Great Goblin has them killed, Gandalf bursts in, kills some of the goblins, and releases our adventurers.  In the flurry of they fight, Bilbo sees someone kill the Great Goblin.  Bilbo jumps on one of the dwarf’s back and they all follow Gandalf.  In all the commotion, the dwarf drops Bilbo down a hole and he loses consciousness.

            “Now, goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted.  They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones.  They can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually untidy and dirty.” This excellent description of the goblins gives us a great idea of what they are like.  It gives us a feel for the goblins’ attitude and how they might treat our adventurers when they are confronted by the Great Goblin.  It makes us worry for all of our characters and wonder if they will all get out alive.

            In this section, I can relate to the needing to find shelter from the weather.  One time I was stuck outside when it suddenly started raining. It is not something that you want to happen, especially when it’s a flash storm.  It comes in without warning and is really quite freaky.  You get a feeling of helplessness, and it you get scared, especially in my case where I was out on my boat. We were able to get in quickly and got lucky because right after we got in, every other boat began to follow.  This experience helped me to understand how the dwarves felt getting caught in the storm.

Mark Zuckerberg

          I am writing about Mark Zuckerberg because the origin of Facebook seems like it could be interesting.  I recently watched some of the movie “The Social Network”, and I’m curious to see how much was accurate.  Also, Mark Zuckerberg has had a big affect on the world.  His social networking system has made it so people can communicate easier and tell each other about events and information quicker.  Whenever you go on a web-page you see “Share on Facebook” or “This page has (insert number here) likes”.  It would be interesting to figure out how the internet evolved with Facebook. 

The Hobbit Book Log #3

10/18/12

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Pages 43-51

           

           In this chapter, our group of dwarves (and Bilbo) stops and rests at the house of some friends of Gandalf.  These friends of Gandalf are elves. They arrive here after a near fatal encounter with some trolls.  While at these elves’ house, they spend fourteen days resting, eating, and stocking supplies.  Bilbo was relieved to have this rest and wished he could just stay while everyone else went on, but he knew he couldn’t.  When it was time for the dwarves to leave, the elves gave them travel advice and told them origins behind the weapons they had picked up.  Then they were off.

            

           “They stayed long in that good house, fourteen days at least, and they found it hard to leave.  Bilbo would have gladly stopped there for ever and ever – even supposing a wish would have taken him right back to his hobbit­-hole without any trouble.” This is an important quote from the book because it tells us that the group wishes to rest longer and reminds us about Bilbo’s feelings for this trip, he would rather stay where he is than keep going and he wants to go home.  It also tells us that the dwarves wish to stay and relax longer, too. 

I can relate to the dwarves in this part of the book because I also like to just relax.  I especially would like to just relax after an encounter with some trolls, if they were real.  Still, I am able to relate to Bilbo with his wanting to be back home, not going on this adventure that he was dragged into.  Although, at this point I think I would have learned to just deal with it and brace myself for the rest of the adventure.  I feel bad for Bilbo, mostly because he didn’t have much of a choice whether or not to go on this journey. 

The Hobbit Book Log #2

10/11/12

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Pages 27-42

                This chapter has Bilbo and the group of dwarves setting out on their adventure.  While on their adventure, the horses get spooked and run into a lake.  By the time the group of adventurers get the horses out of the water, they have lost most of their food.  When night begins to fall, they see a faint light in the distance.  They send Bilbo in to investigate, and he discovers that it is a group of trolls.  While trying to steal from one of the trolls, Bilbo is discovered and is grabbed by the neck.  The trolls begin arguing over who gets to eat Bilbo and then drops him on the ground while they argue.  The trolls stop arguing when they hear the dwarves looking for Bilbo, and then they hide and wait for them to come into the light of their fire so they can capture them in a sack.  The trolls successfully capture most of the dwarves, when Gandalf, the wizard, starts throwing his voice to confuse the trolls and starts another argument.  They argue until the light comes up and turn into stone.  The group is freed and then they find the troll’s home and take some food and weapons from it.

                “I had not gone very far when I met a couple of friends of mine from Rivendell….You will get there in a few days now, if we’re lucky, and find out all about it.” This quote is important because we learn more about Gandalf.  We learn that he has traveled around quite a bit, and has connections in many places.  As I read on I’m sure that I will find out more about Gandalf and the depth of his character.  Aside from being a powerful and wise wizard he is also quite old.  At one point he refers to a hundred years as if it is nothing.  

                At the beginning of this chapter, Bilbo sleeps in later than he meant to.  Because of this, Mr. Baggins misses something important that happened.  I can connect to this because I’ve also slept in too late before.  In the morning I slept in too late once and I was late to school because of this. Luckily, I haven’t slept in too late to the point where I was late for my job on the weekends.  For Bilbo, however, he was still right on time when he got to where he needed to go, so he must be luckier than me.