The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again Chapter 9 Quotes
The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again Chapter 9 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
For Thorin had taken heart again hearing how the hobbit had rescued his companions from the spiders, and was determined once more not to ransom himself with promises to the king of a share in the treasure, until all hope of escaping in any other way had disappeared; until in fact the remarkable Mr. Invisible Baggins (of whom he began to have a very high opinion indeed) had altogether failed to think of something clever.
The other dwarves quite agreed when they got the message. They all thought their own shares in the treasure (which they quite regarded as theirs, in spite of their plight and the still unconquered dragon) would suffer seriously if the Wood-elves claimed part of it, and they all trusted Bilbo. Just what Gandalf had said would happen, you see. Perhaps that was part of his reason for going off and leaving them. (9.16)
Gandalf's probable reason for leaving the dwarves behind is so they can grow to trust Bilbo. But Gandalf's reason is also Tolkien's reason: he has to develop the relationships between the dwarves and Bilbo before the end of The Hobbit, which can only happen once Gandalf is gone (check out our "Character Analysis" of Gandalf for more on this). We find Gandalf's sudden departure a little contrived, actually – is there a more natural way that Bilbo and the dwarves could have been left on their own to grow to trust one another? There is a similar moment of Gandalf's departure in The Fellowship of the Ring. How does Gandalf's scenes in the Mines of Moria compare with his plan to pursue other business with the Necromancer in The Hobbit? And what evidence do we get before Bilbo and the dwarves enter Mirkwood that Bilbo is going to become an expert at "[thinking] of something clever"?