{"id":622,"date":"2011-10-31T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=622"},"modified":"2011-10-24T17:51:27","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T00:51:27","slug":"mark-reads-the-hobbit-chapter-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/10\/mark-reads-the-hobbit-chapter-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Hobbit’: Chapter 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth chapter of The Hobbit<\/em>, SWEET SUMMER CHILD, WHAT IS GOING ON. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Hobbit<\/em>.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER SIX: OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN INTO THE FIRE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good god. Okay, I’m adjusting to the way this is written. I don’t always like it, and that’s okay. It’s unlike anything I’ve read for Mark Reads, so it’s weird to analyze this, but I am finding it easier and easier to look past some of the bizarre phrases and diction choices when SHIT IS GETTING REAL RIGHT AND LEFT. I’m beginning to see how Tolkien continues to expand this world and introduces a new creatures\/species with each chapter. (Well, two<\/em> more were revealed in chapter six.) I’d be pretty stoked if we got a new creature with each new chapter because it’s so fascinating to me. Especially coming from the Song of Ice and Fire<\/em> series, it’s interesting to see an author use things like Wargs in a totally different context. And, well, many years before George R.R. Martin.<\/p>\n

I don’t that I like how<\/em> this story is being told, but I feel pretty confident that I like the story itself. Tolkien continues to build on Bilbo’s fears of abandonment, his desire to be accepted, and a whole host of issues with the lack of experience he possesses. That<\/em> is what’s keeping me going at this point. Well, aside from all of the action, I mean, because at the very least, this book is not slow at all anymore.<\/p>\n

First, though, let’s talk about the fascinating way that Tolkien brings Bilbo back into the group of dwarves and Gandalf. Shocked by the realization that he’s made it to the other<\/em> side of the Misty Mountains after cutting through the passage in the middle of the range, Bilbo starts to panic. He is alone at the end of a mountain range. His friends are gone. He is in a strange, foreign land, and his only protection is the ring he stole from Gollum. Tolkien is quick to make Bilbo find his group, but utilizes the fact that Bilbo is invisible in an interesting way, first and foremost by having the small hobbit listen in on the conversation that the dwarves are having with Gandalf. Unsurprisingly, the dwarves find Bilbo to be rather useless and a nuisance, but before this can hit Bilbo too hardly, Gandalf comes to his defense:<\/p>\n

“I brought him, and I don’t bring things that are of no use. Either you help me to look for him, or I go and leave you here to get out of the mess as best you can yourself. If we can only find him again, you will thank me before this is over.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And even though the dwarves make excuses about why they left Bilbo behind, it’s a huge boost of confidence for the hobbit; this wizard who he barely knows has put his confidence in Bilbo. One lowly hobbit! So I love that right at the perfect moment, Bilbo reveals himself to the group by taking off the ring:<\/p>\n
It is a fact that Bilbo’s reputation went up a very great deal with the dwarves after this. If they had still doubted that he was really a first-class burglar, in spite of Gandalf’s words, they doubted no longer. Balin was the most puzzled of all; but everyone said it was a very clever bit of work.<\/p>\n
And I’m probably reading pretty heavily into this, but I really like this message that Bilbo isn’t particularly tough or scary or frightening or full of wizardly wisdom, but he has something<\/em> that he can contribute. He’s clever<\/em>, and at the very least, it’s something he can give to the group, so he makes sure to tell all the dwarves how he used his cleverness to trick his way out of the goblin’s lair. I won’t lie: it’s really adorable! Bilbo discovers he does<\/em> have value, so he just runs with it. I APPROVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY, SIR.<\/p>\n
Then Gandalf has to go and show off all his wizard knowledge<\/em>. Dude, hey. Let Bilbo have his moment instead of talking about how you totally<\/em> knew this would all happen. SURE YOU DID, GANDALF. You TOTALLY knew this would happen, right? Oh my god, he’s like a hipster wizard. “I knew about the secret mountain pass like ten years before you did. Now everyone does.”<\/p>\n
OKAY ANYWAY. This was fun to learn!<\/p>\n
“You lose track of time inside goblin-tunnels. Today’s Thursday, and it was Monday night or Tuesday morning that we were captured. We have gone miles and miles, and come right down through the heart of the mountains, and are now on the other side–quite a short cut.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
ARE THE GOBLIN-TUNNELS PART OF THE TIME VORTEX. Holy shit, THEY LOST TWO DAYS IN THERE<\/em>??? I thought it was maybe<\/em> twelve hours maximum. WHAT THE CHRIST. Even more horrifying, Gandalf is all, “Yeah, we can’t stop to eat, even though you haven’t eaten for two days.” Yes, it makes a lot of sense, so I’m not criticizing the wizard. They really don’t<\/em> have time to stop for a nice meal, especially since the goblins could still track their scent. BUT STILL. HOLY SHIT, THAT IS A LONG TIME WITHOUT FOOD.<\/p>\n
Bilbo makes-do with what he can find along the road, and the group travels on. This is sort of like an old-timey, fantasy road trip, isn’t it? Oh god, hobbits were into road trips before they were cool<\/em>. This is 100% canon, okay? And so on the great Hobbit Wizard Dwarf Roadtrip of Year I Don’t Know, Gandalf continues to lead the group to some unknown location. I did find that a bit weird. Why isn’t he telling anyone where they’re going? I mean…I may have missed that part, but they all simply follow Gandalf. Is he leading them towards another cave tunnel that he totally knows about but it’s just going to get them in trouble again?<\/p>\n
Actually, while that is a joke, it almost seems to be an accurate depiction of what happens. After hours of walking, Bilbo asks Gandalf if they have much more to go, and Gandalf replies that it’s only a bit further. He leads the group into a bizarre clearing in the forest where no trees grow, and just seconds later, the wolves show up.<\/p>\n
Well, I suppose that’s not the precise term to use; these are wargs<\/em>, gigantic wolf-creatures that are evil by nature. I was familiar with these mythological beings because of the Song of Ice and Fire<\/em> series, but they’re used differently here, describing these enormous wolves. Who, by the way, might be just as terrifying as the goblins. I get the sense that unlike American Gods<\/em> or A Song of Ice and Fire<\/em>, this is not going to be a cast of morally ambiguous and gray characters, at least not from the villains. This reads very much like a fairy tale, so I don’t find myself needing much of a motivation from the wargs. I get a whole lot of context on them, but I don’t really feel the desire to have anything more than a black and white conflict. And that’s okay! I love moral ambiguity almost as much as I love time travel, but I love a good fight between the forces of good and evil, too.<\/p>\n
What’s done so well about this is not only the motivation given by Tolkien, but how overwhelming this feels. The best tension is built by impossible situations, where it increasingly feels like there’s no way out. So when the entire group scales the trees in the clearing and HUNDREDS OF WARGS SHOW UP, many of them keeping guard at the foot of the trees with dwarves, Gandalf, or Bilbo in them, I felt stumped. WELL, OKAY. How on earth could one get out of this? Even Gandalf seems confused for a moment, so he chooses to merely listen. (Smart wizard!)<\/p>\n
We find out a lot from this, which is one of two moments where I was surprised by Tolkien switching the point of view for a bit. It’s the first confirmation that there are just regular “people” in this world that aren’t wizards. Everything we’ve seen so far is some sort of mythological creature, but it turns out that the goblins and the wargs are joining forces for a raid on a nearby village. There’s a reference to these people possibly being Gandalf’s friends, but there’s no outright confirmation of it. Either way, THIS HAPPENS:<\/p>\n
Now you can understand why Gandalf, listening to their growling and yelping, began to be dreadfully afraid, wizard though he was, and to feel that they were in a very bad place, and had not yet escaped at all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
UM HE’S A WIZARD. NOW I’M FREAKING OUT, WHY IS GANDALF AFRAID.<\/p>\n
So I think this is the only book in the universe where a character sets pinecones on fire to use them as a weapon. And not just any fire: magical<\/em> fire that sets wargs alight in an instant. As Gandalf sends down more colors of fiery pinecones, the wargs begin to leave the clearing and I think I have victory and that I can celebrate this creative turn of events–<\/p>\n
–AND THEN TOLKIEN SWITCHES POINT OF VIEW TO THE LORD OF THE EAGLES<\/em>. I will not apologize for loving this. It’s so sudden and bewildering and unexpected, and I think it’s the best part of chapter six. It not only gives us a new perspective on the chaos down in the clearing, but it’s fascinating to be able to see this all through the Lord of the Eagle’s eyes, especially since I initially did not realize he was literally an eagle<\/em>.<\/p>\n
A bunch of questions started running through my mind. Why the change in POV? Whose side would he align with? Why even care about the commotion down below? I got the sense that by chasing the goblins back in their caves on occasion, that meant that they probably weren’t big fans of the wargs, either. But I must admit to being nervous when the eagles all take off to join the fight because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.<\/p>\n
And it certainly doesn’t help that the goblins<\/em> decide to show up, too, and then they work with the wargs to SET GANDALF’S TREE ON FIRE. Even if this book isn’t written in a style that’s very conducive to a thriller (or at least what one would expect), I still found myself pretty excited about all of this. Look, the goblins MAKE UP A SONG ON THE SPOT ABOUT ROASTING OUR HEROES ALIVE WHILE THEY ARE STUCK IN A TREE. This is nightmare fuel!!! The very definition of it! Could you imagine facing death and your adversary creates a well-rhyming, improvised song on the spot?<\/em> It would be so unsettling that you would BEG FOR A SWIFT DEATH.<\/p>\n
I was hoping that the Lord of the Eagles was planning something positive; he swoops down and nabs Gandalf out of the pine tree just in the nick of time, and the rest of the eagles follow suit, picking out the dwarves from their trees. Bilbo (forgotten again HOW SAD) manages to latch onto Dori’s legs at the last moment, holding on the entire length of the flight to safety. Like many things that frighten Bilbo (I don’t even think I could list them), the fear of heights plays heavily into this chapter’s predicament. I’m noticing a pretty neat pattern here: each chapter, Bilbo faces a new creature and a new situation that makes him confront a fear of his. And he overcomes both<\/em>, not always on his own, and not always without a little help, but the end result is the same: he lives through it. That, to me, is what’s so intriguing to me about this book.<\/p>\n
This is my favorite sentence in the book, by the way:<\/p>\n
“Also eagles aren’t forks!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Wise thoughts from Dori<\/em>.<\/p>\n
And thus, the group manages to survive their journey through the Misty Mountains. WHAT SECRETS WILL THE FUTURE HOLD? Oh god, I have no idea because JESUS CHRIST SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED ALREADY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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