IRP Blogpost 2

Symbols:
-burglar: Bilbo is called a burglar even though he has never been on any adventures in his life and he prefers a quiet life. It symbolizes his inner personality and foreshadows change in his lifestyle.
-tea: Bilbo invites Gandalf for tea, but instead he gets a bunch of dwarfs who don't want tea. This symbolizes the unexpected events that might occur throughout the book.
-gold & jewels: these symbolize the vanity that all dwarfs have. Also, they are important for Thorin, whose family's treasure is held by Smaug.

Connections & Questions:
The books is similar to other fantasy novels, such as A Game of Thrones, which is the first in a seven-part epic series. It is similar in that there are many made-up kinds of creatures, like dwarfs, wizards and dragons in both books.
This first section in The Hobbit also resembles one of the opening scenes in the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy when Gandalf again visits Bilbo, but that time Bilbo is at the end of his life and Frodo is about to begin his journey. In The Hobbit, Bilbo is about to begin his journey.
Another connection is to the current revolution in Egypt. Although on different scales, the dwarfs are trying to overthrow Smaug from his pile of treasure, and in Egypt the middle-class is revolting against the "president" Mubarak.
link to article about Egypt's revolution: http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/3697.cfm

Why did Bilbo let all the dwarfs in his house so easily?
Does Bilbo actually have a decision in going with the dwarfs or not? Would Gandalf let him not go?
Why do the dwarfs, who don't seem to really want Bilbo to go with them, choose Bilbo and not another dwarf to make their number of companions fourteen?