Bedtime Hobbit Reading: Sticking to the Path
Posted by tom | Sep 21, 2011"They had escaped the dungeons of the king and were through the wood, but whether alive or dead still remains to be seen" (187).
As you may remember from Bedtime Hobbit Reading, I'm pressing on with some reading of The Hobbit.1
Gandalf instructed the party to "Stick to the forest-track . . . DON'T LEAVE THE PATH!" (137-138) But as you know, the party did not, leading to much misadventure. None-the-less, it is in the time "off the path," where Bilbo grows in the craft of burglary and hence, respect from the dwarves -- especially when mixed with two "prison" breaks (maybe this should be cast as "freeing the innocent and/or bumbling travelers").2
I've not thought about it from this perspective before, but it feels like a significant maturation point of a main character, possibly even a "walk through the valley of the shadow death" serves as the hinge of the book. I'll revisit this thought later. Can't wait to pop the lids in Chapter 10: A Warm Welcome.
Question: Over the past several weeks, have you been taking care of yourself (and those for whom you are responsible)? Are you still on the path? If not, what steps can you take to return to it?
Teaser: We find something interesting about "sticking to the path" in Chapter 10: A Warm Welcome. An example of not drawing such truths from fiction and the disagreement between J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis regarding the writing of fiction?
1J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit: or There and Back Again. Revised Edition. Ballantine Books. 1994).
2I'm starting to wondering whether I should be an enthusiast for the relationship of the craft of burglarly/"prison" break and respect from one's colleagues in a mission to steal back treasure, even though it is MiddleEarth before the teaching of Christ :) More on this train of thought coming . . .
