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Examples Of Greed In The Hobbit

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“Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstiest we become.” -Arthur Schopenhauer. In the fictional novel, The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, dwarves and a hobbit named Bilbo, go on a quest to take back their treasure from a dragon who once stole it. In doing so, the dwarves let the dream and thought of wealth consume and over power them. In the Hobbit, Tolkien uses different characters, objects, and dialogue to show how greed is incorporated in this story. J.R.R Tolkien uses author's craft moves such as having characters represent a bigger idea, in the Hobbit. One major topic in this fictional epic is greed. Tolkien shows the topic of greed mainly through the viscous dragon Smaug. Smaug's life only consists of hoarding his treasure, and making sure that nobody else can steal it back. Unfortunately for Smaug, that was the entire purpose of the quest that a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins was recruited to be on, and potentially lead. Smaug's greed extremely shows in one instance when the precious Arkenstone is stolen from him. In resistance, Smaug destroys an area called Lake Town, and many of the men within it. While others may argue that in this instance he was acting more …show more content…

The main part of this song is the very beginning and end when it states, “To seek the pale enchanted gold / To hide in gems on hit of sword / To claim our long-forgotten gold / To win our harps and gold from him.”(pg 14-15) Parts of this song are repeated multiple times throughout the story and seems to be an anthem for the dwarves. This shows them to be extremely greedy because all they live for and think about is jewels and stealing their rightful gold back. The dwarves show their greediness mostly to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins who is accompanying them on their journey. They don't initially trust him and seem as if the only reason they want him on the quest is to steal the jewels for

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