Key themes
- The unexpected hero
- Home versus adventure
- Courage as a small and ordinary thing
About this book
A comfortable hobbit is swept into an adventure with dwarves and a dragon; the cosy doorway into Middle-earth.
Written in the early 1930s and published in 1937, The Hobbit began as a story Tolkien told his children. Its success prompted the publisher to request a sequel — which became The Lord of the Rings.
Discussion questions
- Bilbo is chosen precisely because he seems unsuitable — the comfortable, stay-at-home hobbit. What is Tolkien saying about the relationship between comfort and courage?
- The novel was written for Tolkien's own children before it became a publishing phenomenon. How does knowing its origins affect how you read it — does it feel like a children's book, an adult fantasy, or neither?
- Bilbo's decision to spare Gollum — which he later regrets and then understands was right — is a pivotal moral moment. What does Tolkien mean to show through it?
- The dwarves are on a quest to reclaim their home and treasure from a dragon. By the end, gold has corrupted their leader. What is the novel saying about the relationship between home, greed and identity?
- The Hobbit is often read as a work of mythmaking — Tolkien wanted to create a mythology for England. What does that ambition give the novel, and what does it constrain?
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