Bilbo and Gandalf's personality revealed

In The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolken Gandalf the Wizard has a very interesting personality. See the earlier blog post for the first part of the story's retell. Recently Bilbo was told to go and pickpocket some trolls who are eating in the forest. This operation doesn't go as expected and Bilbo and his fellow Dwarves get captured. Then an anonymous voice keeps the trolls bickering until the sun rises and they turn into stone. This anonymous voice was Gandalf whom had mysteriously vanished previously. This can say a lot about the personality of Gandalf

Gandalf saves them but only while the trolls were considering either roasting,boiling, or crushing Bilbo and his fellow Dwarves and turning them into paste. This shows that Gandalf is very unexpected and can come in at the last moment to save the day. Also this shows that he trusts Bilbo and has faith in him. Seeing how he let Bilbo do this task by himself without his assistance until the very end. Even then this was in an urgent time and only because he was desperately needed did he help Bilbo at all. This may also show some unadmirable traits in Gandalf. He only acts when he's needed and didn't accompany his friend Bilbo.

I do also think that this says something about Gandalf"s wits. Gandalf used a very original strategy to distract the trolls long enough to save his friends. Then again, trolls are not the brightest of creatures especially if they were defeated by that trick. Gandalf may face more difficult opponents in the future and then we can truly judge how smart he is. Bilbo looks weaker now compared to Gandalf because he did get himself captured by Trolls. As I said earlier, not the brightest of creatures.

I do think that Bilbo has a chance though, he seems to be brave. Trolls are not to be messed with, they are quite dangerous. Bilbo was also willing to go on this adventure that was offered by Gandalf. He seems a bit braver then his other Hobbits. In conclusion from this one incident I was able to learn a lot about the personality of both Gandalf and Bilbo.

Bilbo and me arn't too different

In The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolken, Bilbo is greeted by a wizard named Gandalf and is asked to accompany him on an adventure. Bilbo declines politely but Gandalf persists and comes back with 13 dwarves whom ask him to help them attempt to slay Smaug, the thieving dragon. Bilbo is part of a race known as Hobbits whom are quite shy creatures. This could be tied into my life quite possibly

In the book Tolken says that Hobbits "have become rare and shy of the big people". I myself am quite shy in terms of  meeting other people. I can understand how Bilbo and his fellow Hobbits feel about meeting new people. Also, Bilbo describes his own folk by saying "We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures". His own opinion on the idea of adventuring is proof that a typical Hobbit is not very adventurous and wants things to be safe. Tolken also reveals that Hobbits, specifically Bilbos family (the Bagginses), are very predictable in their ways. He says that "you can tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking"

I can relate to the personality of the typical Hobbit. I myself am very shy and i would've turned down Gandalf's offer any day of the week. I wouldn't want to go and slay a dragon for a massive heap of gold. I don't really take to many risks in my life, I live in the boundaries I make for myself. Bilbo doesn't really do that much either. he simply lives in his very neatly arranged Hobbit-hole,smokes his pipe and reads. Every day is the same for him pretty much and this is usually the same for me. I have a routine and i stick to it in a show of repetition. I often come home wondering if anything really interesting or exciting happened today. More times than not i find myself  saying an unfortunate "no".

These traits in Bilbo may change though, in fact they allready have. Bilbo has unwillingly accepted the offer of Gandalf and his Dwarves. He's becoming more adventurous and is hopefully breaking the boundaries set for himself.

The Lorax's secret message

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is about the destruction of the Truffala trees by the Once-ler. The speaker for the trees,The Lorax, attempts to stop him but fails and the Once-ler destroys the environment. The Lorax is commonly seen as a commentary on climate change and the destruction of the environment. I think that their is more to it then that. I think that it's also about commercialism and the unfortunately small voice of the people compared to the voice of the cooperation. Also that,in the end, the destruction of the environment in the grand scheme of things will not pay off.

In the book the Once-ler ignores the Lorax and continues to make thneeds. For a while the Once-ler is making good money and has a good life. This is only until he cuts down the last tree. Then his buisness dries up and all of his family leaves him. Now he is alone in the baron wasteland that he created. This shows that it may be benificial in short but in the grand scheme of things you will simply cause grief to everybody including you. It also shows that the voice of the activist or opposition can't outdo the voice of the corperation. The Lorax heeded this warning to the Once-ler and his customers but they ignored him. They ignoored his warnings and turned the environment into a baron wasteland.

In conclusion the Lorax is much deeper then some people think it is. It's the picture book equivilant of pop art, a constant commentary on the ides of mass-production,commercialism, and  the mystery of the corperation. Many simply see it as just for children,which ridiculous. The Lorax was ground-breaking for its time and is still a very deep and interesting tale of the man who speaks for the trees