On Writing - Quotes and Passages
From Tolkien's The Hobbit:
"
'Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking'
He [Gollum] also in his turn thought this was a dreadfully easy one, because he was always
thinking of the answer. But he could not remember anything at the moment, he was so flustered by the
egg-question. All the same it was a poser for poor Bilbo, who never had anything to do with water if
he could help it. I imagine you know the answer, of course, or can guess it easy as winking, since you
are sitting comfortably at home and have not the danger of being eaten to disturb your thinking. Bilbo
sat and cleared his throat once or twice, but no answer came.
After a while Gollum began to hiss with pleasure to himself: 'Is it nice. my preciousss? Is it
juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?' He began to peer at Bilbo out of the darkness.
'Half a moment,' said the hobbit shivering. 'I gave you a good long chance just now.'
'It must make haste, haste!' said Gollum, beginning to climb out of his boat to get at Bilbo.
But when he put his long webby foot into the water, a fish jumped out in fright and fell on Bilbo's toes.
'Ugh!' he said, 'It is cold and clammy!'-- and so he guessed. 'Fish! fish!' he cried. 'It is a
fish!'
Gollum was dreadfully disappointed."
Since 'Lord of the Rings' is coming out as a movie this year, I thought it'd be nice start with a passage with this passage from The Hobbit. So let me explain about this section. The purpose is to put up quotes or passages that we really like and then comment on what makes it special, what makes it 'work' for you as a reader? *takes passage and shakes it upside down* What makes it tic?!
And I say "we" because I'm expecting you all to pitch in a favorite quote or passage sometime. I'm also hoping you'll contribute to the discussion, because I feel really silly standing up here on my soapbox all by myself. Okay?
Ok. Back to the passage. Bilbo, the hobbit, is lost in the caves, separated from his (need we say? brave) companions and in danger of being hunted down by some of the most vile creatures in Middle Earth's existence. This passage strikes my fancy because it is particularly whimsical-- a strange duel between good and evil takes place in the form of a riddle contest. Everybody has had that experience in childhood of being uncomfortable, not knowing the answer to their friend's clever riddle or joke, but feeling (as a child) that it's the most dreadfully important thing in the world to know. Part of what makes this passage so great is that it plays off human emotions that are common in all of us.
It takes a childhood experience, but exaggerates the proportion of the situation so that (unlike in our childhood experience) it *really* becomes a matter of life or death. Tolkien builds this childish game to such a proportion that it leaves the reader in suspenseful agony over whether our Hero will escape.
And admit it: we are worried. Because we know that creature, Gollum, will not keep his word. At the end of this contest, we know there's nothing that can protect Bilbo, nothing that would prevent Gollum from breaking his promise. We are relieved, however, with each new riddle in the contest, because it buys time for our (apparently) doomed Bilbo.
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