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The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
His Precious
Some people will do just about anything to get what they really want. A strange creature named Gollum in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is one of these “people”. But he’s not really a person. Gollum is a small, dark, slimy creature with two pale, round eyes on his face, who lives on an island in the middle of a great underground lake. The lake is situated at the end of a tunnel that twists and turns under the Misty Mountains. Gollum, who is very curious, was relaxing on his island one day when he noticed the Hobbit (Bilbo Baggins) at the edge of his lake. Bilbo Baggins was lost in the tunnels alone, and he and his party had just been attacked by goblins. Gollum loves to eat goblins (or anything else similar) and is also very curious as to what the hobbit is, and if he is edible. Gollum, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” can be very sneaky in order to get what he wants, as shown by his appearance, speech, and actions.
Gollum’s appearance shows that he is sneaky. “He was Gollum – as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face (Tolkien 71)”. He was “a small slimy creature (Tolkien 71)”. When someone is dark and small and strange looking, it makes them seem sneaky, whether or not they are. The Hobbit is obviously quite startled by Gollum’s appearence when he meets Gollum because when the hobbit saw Gollum he “jumped nearly out of his skin (Tolkien 72)” and suddenly “saw the pale eyes sticking out at him (Tolkien 72)”. This is proof that Gollum looks sneaky, which may mean that he is sneaky.
Gollum’s speech shows him sneaky. Because Gollum literally thinks out loud, or talks to himself, much of his sneaky thoughts are betrayed by his speech. First, when Gollum discovers that the Hobbit carries a sword, Gollum decides that maybe it isn’t such a good idea to fight the Hobbit in order to eat him. So, he tries a sneaky way of reaching his goal: he decides to play a game of riddles. He says “Praps we sits here and chats with it a bitsy, my preciousss. It likes riddles, praps it does, does it? (Tolkien 73)” and later decides that “If precious asks, and it doesn’t answer, we eats it, my preciousss. If it asks us, and we doesn’t answer, then we does what it wants, eh? (Tolkien 74)”. So Gollum, believing that he is good at guessing and making up riddles, thinks he’ll get the Hobbit to agree to the plan. Then, he’ll win the game of riddles and get to eat the Hobbit. As we can see, Gollum’s first reaction to an obstacle is to become sneaky.
Lastly, Gollum’s actions reveal his sneaky character. When Gollum loses the game of riddles, he resorts to his backup plan. Gollum happens to possess a magical ring that will cause its owner to turn invisible when the ring it slipped on the owner’s finger. Gollum decides to use the magic ring to hide from the Hobbit, and to creep up to him to catch him. “‘Quite safe, yes,’ he whispered to himself. It won’t see us, and its nassty little sword will be quite useless, yes quite.’ That was what was in his wicked little mind, as he slipped suddenly from Bilbo’s side, and flapped back to his boat, and went off into the dark (Tolkien 81)”. Once again, Gollum’s actions demonstrate how sneaky he really is. Luckily, Gollum’s sneaky plans fail, when he finds his ring is lost and that it is in the hobbit’s pocket! The hobbit manages to escape with the magical ring and leaves Gollum wailing.
In conclusion, Gollum’s appearence makes him seem sneaky. The description of Gollum’s appearence and the Hobbit’s reaction when he sees Gollum is significant evidence that he is really sneaky. In addition, Gollum’s speech reveals his sly character. Gollum’s first reaction to his problems is to do something sneaky, and his speech quickly reveals this. Lastly, Gollum’s desperately sneaky actions at the end of the story entirely uncovers his sneaky character. Every one of us should realize our motives when we are doing a thing, and, unlike Gollum, be careful not to do anything out of selfish sneakiness.
Works Cited
Tolkien, J. R. R. "Riddles In The Dark." The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again. Authorized Ed., Rev. ed. New York: Ballantine, 1982. Print.
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