The Hobbit Chapter 19 Summary/Review

The Last Stage

Summary

Bilbo returns with his share of treasure

Bilbo and Gandalf are riding on their ponies back toward Bilbo's homeland. Bilbo can still hear the wood-elves singing and several wood-elves revealed themselves and led them to the house of Elfrond.  From there, Gandalf shared stories to the elves and his old friend Elfrond about their epic adventure through the Misty Mountains. Bilbo remained quiet and learned that the reason Gandalf left the company was to attend a meeting with the other white wizards. He helped participate with the good wizards on driving out the Necromancer from his dark hold in Mirkwood. Gandalf tells Elfrond that the dark magic user will not be around anymore and that peace will be restored. Bilbo and Gandalf spends the night in Elfrond's and they later departed saying goodbye to Elfrond. They dug up several more gold and other treasures that the trolls hid when the company first passed through here. They filled their bags with gold and walked the whole way back. Bilbo has changed a lot especially

when he stopped and sang about his journey with the dwarves and Gandalf.

"Gandalf looked at him. “My dear Bilbo!” he said. “Something is the matter with you! You are not the hobbit that you were.”

Gandalf tells Bilbo that he is no longer the hobbit Bilbo once was. The journey changed Bilbo from the hobbit who loved the comfort of home to the the more experience hobbit that slay Giant-Spiders and experienced a huge battle. Gandalf and Bilbo sees hobbits in the middle of holding an auction on the presumably believed deceased Bilbo. Bilbo had to spend a lot to regain his furniture. Bilbo also lost his reputation because the adventure changed him. The elves, wizards, and dwarves who came to visit Bilbo respected him, but the his neighboring hobbits didn't except his relatives from the Took side. One day, Gandalf and Balin came to visit Bilbo. Bilbo openly invited them in and they share stories. Bard has refunded Lake Town and the friendship between humans, dwarves, and elves is still strong as ever.

Bilbo's stuff is being auctioned

Review

Bilbo has changed a lot from the journey. Before, he loved the comfort of his home and would stay in there. The journey to the Misty Mountains with the dwarves allowed Bilbo to overcome that personality. This personality was replaced with a more adventurous and courage. Bilbo also played a key role throughout the book. If Bilbo had not agreed to join with the dwarves, the dwarves would have died throughout the journey, Smaug would never have been killed, the treasure would never be reclaimed, the goblins will still be roaming in the Misty Mountains, and the renew alliance between dwarves, humans, and elves will never happen. Even Gandalf was surprised because he never foreseen the importance of Bilbo's role in the journey. 

I think that this change can somewhat reflect Tolkien's experience after the Great War. As I have repeated many times, Tolkien was part of the British army during World War I. And like most veterans of the war, Tolkien lifestyle was completely changed. He must have known that the war changed him. So he incorporated the same change on Bilbo's experience of his adventure.

I think that his mother's Took side allowed Bilbo to continue on and not give up through out the journey. The Tooks were known for the only hobbit family who loved adventures and had some desires to seek them. Bilbo Baggins is a Took and a Baggins, but his personality was forever changed into a Took's. This will also explain why the other hobbits (except the Tooks) never believe in Bilbo because they were too comfortable in their homes and didn't really want to go out. Bilbo's journey with the dwarves has finally came to an end.

Overall, The Hobbit is a great book to read. I give it a 10/10 and hope that people who haven't read this book actually try it out.