5/6 The Hobbit chapter 16

Chapter 16 - A Theif In The Night

Thorin's greed towards gold and especially the Arkenstone had reached its peak: he would kill anyone who took the Arkenstone and withholds it. Hearing this, Bilbo became afraid because he had the Arkenstone and was using it as a pillow, but he decided to take action. One night, he slips on the ring, sneaks out of the mountain and went to Bard and the Elven-king. The two were suspicious at first but curious when Bilbo showed them the Arkenstone they believed that Bilbo was not an enemy. Bilbo's plan was to offer the Arkenstone to Bard to help the negotiation with Thorin. Thorin desires the Arkenstone above a river of gold, so Bilbo was certain that Thorin would give away some treasure to the people of Lake Town. He claimed that he took the Arkenstone as the one-fourteenth share of the treasure that was promised to him in his contract. Both Bard and the Elven-king praised Bilbo with honour. Gandalf was there and he also praised him for his bravery. They asked him to stay with them, but Bilbo said he couldn't leave his friends like that and went back into the mountain unnoticed.

At this point, I thought Bilbo became a true hero. This is because he chose to do the right thing even though he had to betray his friends (the dwarves). He wasn't even asked to do this, he was just asked to steal treasures. I thought this type of dilemma, when you have to choose between doing what you think is right or your friend, is common in the real world too. Bilbo doing a very courageous act to end problems in a peaceful way tells me that he had taken the correct action, and Gandalf praising Bilbo reinforces the fact that Bilbo was doing the right thing.  I think that Bilbo has shown himself to have qualities that would never have shown itself if he had just stayed in his hobbit hole.

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