Many people wonder why wealthy people are usually greedy, disrespectful, and foolish. In The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien shows us why some people’s attitude toward property and material wealth is negative. He shows the Biblical standpoint of wealth throughout his book. Even though you can do many great things with wealth, their are many unfavorable things you can do with it as well. The pitfalls of possessiveness and materialism that emerge in The Hobbit are greed, disrespect, and foolishness.
Greed is an outcome toward property and material wealth. “His rage passes description - the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted”
…show more content…
Smaug became to confident in himself when Bilbo complemented him. “I am armoured above and below with iron scales and hard gems. No blade can pierce me.” (208) It turns out that their was a kink in Smaug’s armor, so Bilbo was about to spot that. When Bilbo and the dwarves escaped from Smaug, Smaug became angry and irrational. “He was breaking rocks to pieces, smashing wall and cliff with the lashings of his huge tail, till their lofty little camping ground, the scorched grass, the trush’s stone, the snail-covered walls, the narrow ledge, and disappeared in a jumble of smithereens, and an avalanche of splintered stones fell over the cliff into the valley below.” (213) There was no point to destroying the dwarf’s campground, but Smaug ruined it because he was furious out losing a goblet. Thorin becomes foolhardy when he thinks he can survive a hard winter without much food. “Winter and snow is hastening behind them. How shall you be fed without the friendship and goodwill of the lands about you? The treasure is likely to be your death, though the dragon is no more!’ But Thorin was not moved. ‘Winter and snow will bite both men and elves,’ he said, ‘and they may find their dwelling in the waste grievous to
When Bilbo feels pity for Gollum, and decides not to kill him, he takes risks, as leaping over Gollum may fail, causing Bilbo to fall prey to Gollum. In this situation, Bilbo pushes himself to spare Gollum and make daring decisions, where Bilbo is not aware of the consequences. Therefore Bilbo signifies risk-taking when sparing Gollum, despite the unpredictable consequences that result from his decisions. Lastly, Bilbo demonstrates pushing himself to take risks, despite the danger, is during when Bilbo is chosen to survey inside the Lonely Mountain, Smaug's citadel (pg. 198-201). Bilbo understands that he must uphold his position as a burglar, and be the first to enter the Lonely Mountain, where Smaug inhabits. When Bilbo enters Smaug’s lair, is a primary example of Bilbo’s risk-taking, despite the prominent danger. Bilbo exploring Smaug's stronghold is the climax of danger during The Hobbit. During this situation, Bilbo pushes himself greatly, to explore inside the Lonely Mountain, in order to manifest his capability as a burglar, Bilbo surpasses his ability to take risks and discovers the extent of his risk-taking abilities. He ultimately finds greater courage within himself, as a result of pushing himself to take risks. Bilbo knows of Smaug, who represents the great danger within the mountains. He takes this opportunity to exceed his risk-taking skills. Therefore Bilbo takes risks by upholding his burglar responsibilities, despite facing the
The Hobbit is a classic example of a fool’s errand written as a children’s tale. Thirteen dwarves, a hobbit, and a wizard journey across Middle Earth to face a centuries-old dragon that decades earlier obliterated the combined armies of the dwarves. And yet, against all odds, this pack of misfits succeeds in their quest, reclaiming Erebor, killing the dragon, and renewing the line of Durin. The Hobbit is moralistic in nature; it never intends to showcase the literal triumph of the heroes over the dragon, but rather the victory of one set of values over another. The dwarves’ companionship, sacrifice, and heroism defeat the dragon’s antagonistic, materialist, and isolated nature. Many tales throughout the ages echo this classic theme: love
“Hope is facing the ultimate Darkness while having your mind set on seeing the Light again.” -Unknown. You have to go through some hard times to be able to have the good and amazing times. Just like many people say you need a little rain to see a beautiful rainbow.The epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, is about a young man and his crew going through a long unexpected journey with many surprises along the way.They encounter many different obstacles throughout their passage home. Through the crew’s betrayal the author discusses responsibilities and reveals greed is the leading contributor to setbacks.
Greed is undeniably a characteristic of being human. Even two hundred thousand years ago, when the first examples of modern humans were in a competition for food and survival, they naturally had to be greedy in order to survive and contribute to the gene pool in order for further generations to evolve and adapt. Darwin proved this with his theory of evolution stating that the species that are better adapted to the environment would be able to spend less time looking for food and more time mating (contributing to the gene pool), while the species who are not as well adapted would die off. The play “Macbeth” and the motion picture based on the book “A Simple Plan” display these themes of greed profusely as the main characters from each are affected by the same characteristic that had previously allowed for human survival. Macbeth in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and Hank in the film “A Simple Plan” are both affected by greed as they both turn into murders who backstab their friends, they both ruin their relationship with their wives, and they both end up destroying their lives.
Greed is a common, yet detrimental factor in society today. All around the world people experience this type of attribute, whether it is for power or for the simple concept of desiring more in life. In order to further this prevalent theme, Peter Jackson created the film The Hobbit-Desolation of Smaug, in 2013. In this film, he continued the adventure of Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves and set them off to reclaim their ancient dwarven city guarded by the dragon, Smaug. Throughout the entire movie, the characters face many tough obstacles, those being orcs, elves and most importantly the evil dragon. Those elves actually came to their rescue later on in the movie, proving their loyalty. Those noble elves were Tauriel and Legolas. Also, a major character in the movie was Gandalf, which was the powerful wizard. In the movie, he aided in their adventure by leading them to the proper trail while also providing them with many struggles they may encounter on the way. While all of the characters and setting play a key role in shaping the movie as a whole, the theme of greed is a much greater aspect throughout the film. Peter Jackson implements personification, symbolism, and foreshadowing in his movie in order to point his audience towards the bigger message, greed is the root of all evil.
Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction (Erich Fromm).
Firstly, the destruction that greed has on the human mind can be seen through Ivan Dmitritch in
In The Hobbit, Tolkien created cultures and values that are represented often in certain characters and groups of characters. These translate to character traits, which can be positive or negative. After reading up to this point in the story, one can infer that Tolkien considers focused to be a positive character trait, greed to be a negative character trait, and he also feels intelligence more important than physical strength.
Ruled by emotions, our overpowering heart makes us human. For Odysseus, he was ruled by arrogance on his journey home after his Trojan War victory. Arrogance is a matter of the mind; the mind deceives humans into thinking that they are greater than the bigger picture of life. So, as punishment for believing himself above the gods, the gods sentence Odysseus to a ten year journey lost at sea among challenges and temptations. Meanwhile, Odysseus’ wife Penelope and son Telemachus suffer at home in the kingdom of Ithaca. In Odysseus’ story, the secondary characters symbolize the traits of human experience, such as greed, lust, love, and hope that will serve to teach Odysseus of his humanity.
Who are the most successful powerful people in the world? Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg can be an answer to this question. Another answer could be the least greedy, least foolish, and sensible people. This also true in ‘The Odyssey’, by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. In the epic poem, Odysseus goes to fight in the Trojan war and then returns home.
The Odyssey: Greed and its Consequences Book 9 of The Odyssey, tells of the beginning of the great wanderings of Odysseus and his comrades as they journeyed back home from Troy. The episode I will be focusing is the Cicones. After reading the first story of the great wanderings, I learn that there is a fatal flaw in Odysseus and his crew. This episode shows how the gluttony ultimately leads to misfortune.
Greed: the intense and selfish desire for something, greed is something that can control someone's actions or personality. In the story “The Crucibles” Rev Parris let his greed take over his mind and other choices during this period of time.
The world we live in is full of heroes that are different shapes and sizes that people don't remember who they are a month after they do something. The story The Hobbit may make you think of a half sized person as an no everyday hero, but his actions will touch your heart and make you think that it's really possible to change the world around you no matter what size you are. The half sized person in this story by J.R.R. Tolkien is named Bilbo and his race is known as hobbits. In his distant homeland called the Shire, he was summoned by a wizard named Gandalf who requested he join them on a quest for treasure. This quest was probably the
Greed is what drives everything in society, whether that be thousands of years ago or today. The reason we have advancements in our world is greed. People want to live forever, have a legacy that lives forever, or they want to have the most money. People have a natural desire to have the most stuff, whether that be money or physical good, and they will go to the ends of the earth to get it. And because this is human nature, unfortunately, it isn’t stopping anytime soon.
The Hobbit directed by Peter Jackson is a movie that lets you see how the underdog goes from being small and not noticed to becoming the hero that will bring back hope and save the day. Everyone likes a good underdog story and I for one think that The Hobbit is a perfect example of it. Throughout this movie, it slowly makes the main character Bilbo Baggins more of the light in dark and makes him become more hero like with each passing event. Throughout this movie, the tone helps to bring out the inner heroism and light in Bilbo. In the start of the movie, Bilbo gets 13 uninvited guests that show up and ask him to join them on their mission to take back their home, the Lonely Mountain. This is a very powerful scene with a very serious underlying tone to it. The scene starts off with playful banter and fun throughout the 12 dwarfs but when Thorin Oakenshield arrives the mood gets very serious by how the music changes and the interaction between characters. The music was a big hint in the serious tone since it went from more upbeat and energetic to a softer volume and slowed down a bit. The characters interactions are still friendly with each other but when confronting Bilbo they get more focused. The body language is also stiffer and less carefree when the call for help is talked about. Another scene is where Bilbo's ability to bring out some hope is when the Company has to get back there ponies from 3 mountain trolls. During this scene Bilbo has to bite back is fear of the