The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again Chapter 11 Quotes
The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again Chapter 11 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
[Dwalin] "What is our burglar doing for us? Since he has got an invisible ring, and ought to be a specially excellent performer now, I am beginning to think he might go through the front gate and spy things out a bit!"
Bilbo heard this – the dwarves were on the rocks just above the enclosure where he was sitting – and "Good Gracious!" he thought, "so that is what they are beginning to think, is it? It is always poor me that has to get them out of their difficulties, at least since the wizard left. Whatever am I going to do?" (11.27)
As Bilbo and the dwarves are sitting at the side door waiting for something to happen (before they find the keyhole), the dwarves get impatient and start to turn on Bilbo. As Bilbo says, "It is always poor [Bilbo] that has to get them out of their difficulties." So the flip side of the dwarves' newfound loyalty for Bilbo is that they expect a lot more of him – and it's perhaps these high expectations that make Thorin feel all the more betrayed when he finds out that Bilbo has given Thorin's Arkenstone to Bard.
Quote 2
They all fell silent: the hobbit standing by the grey stone, and the dwarves with wagging beards watching impatiently. The sun sank lower and lower and their hopes fell. it sank into a belt of reddened cloud and disappeared. The dwarves groaned, but still Bilbo stood almost without moving. The little moon was dipping to the horizon. Evening was coming on. Then suddenly when their hope was lowest a red ray of the sun escaped like a finger through a rent in the cloud. A gleam of light came straight through the opening into the bay and fell on the smooth rock-face. The old thrush, who had been watching from a high perch with beady eyes and head cocked on one side, gave a sudden trill. There was a loud crack. A flake of rock split from the wall and fell. A hole appeared suddenly about three feet from the ground [...]
Then Thorin stepped up and drew the key on its chain from round his neck. He put it to the hole. It fitted and it turned! Snap! The gleam went out, the sun sank, the moon was gone, and evening sprang into the sky. (11.32-7)
Again, we have to be amazed by Bilbo's luck: he happens to be standing near the side door when the thrush indicates that now is the time: it's Durin's Day, and the secret keyhole is about to be revealed! We do sometimes feel that the lengths the novel goes to make sure that everyone is in the right place at the right time – the Eagles that save Gandalf, Bilbo, and the dwarves from the goblins, the thrush that indicates that it is Durin's Day, to name a few more – are a bit much to believe. Should we forgive The Hobbit its farfetched plot twists because it's a fantasy novel? Do we allow more license to fantasy fiction about things like cause and effect because of the nature of the genre? Does The Lord of the Rings ever also seem contrived, or is it just The Hobbit?