The Hobbit tells the story of a comfortable, friendly creature named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo, like most hobbits, is similar to a human, but about half the size, and much more nible because they have leathery soles on their feet, and not nearly as loud. Bilbo gets caught up in mysterious affairs much greater than his own hobbit-life affairs when, at the recommendation of a mysterious old wizard named Gandalf, he is hired as a "burglar" …showed first 75 words of 571 total…

…showed last 75 words of 571 total…do great things for the common good? The truth that emerges from The Hobbit is that, if one is called on to play a part in great affairs--as we all are, at least according to Tolkien's Christian perspective--then one should not shirk one's duty. To perform that duty well, however, one must never lose sight of one's own insignificance in the larger scheme of things, nor lose respect for the value of the simple life.