Essay

The theme of “The Hobbit” is “Facing your fears is challenging, but the rewards are great". When Bilbo didn't face his fears of disappointing Thorin, he endangered everyone. “he could not go straight back to Thorin and Co. empty-handed”(p.35-36). Bilbo is scared to disappoint Thorin and Co., so he hesitates and doesn’t remember that troll purses yell when someone tries to steal them. “William [a troll] turned round at once and grabbed Bilbo by the neck”(36). Therefore, if Bilbo wasn’t scared to come back to Thorin, then he wouldn’t have gotten caught. But when Bilbo faced his fears, he saved everyone: “Standing now in the middle of the hunting and spinning insects, Bilbo plucked up his courage and began a new song”(160). Bilbo was brave and ran around annoying the spiders to draw them away from the company so that he could save them. "He managed by leaning over to cut most of the strong, sticky threads that bound him round, and then, sure enough, with a kick and a struggle, most of Fili emerged." Bilbo was brave and ran around annoying the spiders to get them away from the company so that he could save them. All in all, one of the themes Tolkien expressed in The Hobbit was “Facing your fears is challenging, but the rewards are great "