Bilbo Baggins: Weak Or Strong

For Bilbo Baggins, I put him as strong. Compared to Gandalf, he would be in the upper middle, but since we're comparing him to other characters from other books, him on the stronger side seemed right. In the beginning, he was really weak, but as the story progressed, so did his character. If you compared him in beginning of the book, to the end, you can tell a massive difference. It went from him being a liability and having to be saved, to saving his friends and ended up becoming the leader of his group. I put him on the end of strong because of these things. Also, there was like a latter of Bilbos, so I had to add on.
Everyone in our group said that Bilbo was a strong character, except Spencer. He said that in the Battle of the Five Armies (he is two days ahead,) Bilbo doesn't do much. He then said that Bilbo was doing a lot until something happened, that me and Carson have no idea what. Tyson, who has read this book like a week before our lit reading groups, begged to differ. They argued, and from what I heard, I think Bilbo got hurt and that's why he stopped doing work, but that's my guess.
I think that Bilbo has a little room left to grow stronger, since they still have to defeat Smaug. He, and his companions will have to brave up and eventually end up fighting and defeat Smaug, which I have no idea how, since he's practically invincible and can also can disintegrate anything near him in a large radius.

Rating of Bilbo Baggins (CarsonH)

I ranked my main character, Bilbo Baggins, towards the stronger side of the line chart. I did this because I believe he has grown a lot as a character. He's been (in my opinion) the most important member of Thorin's team. He has saved Thorin and Co. from all sorts of dangers, ranging from giant spiders to assisting in their escape from the Wood Elves. Recently, he has been even more crucial to the team, as he helped the dwarves scale Smaug's mountain and he stole a jar from him.

All of the ratings in our lit circle group were relatively similar. Spenser placed Bilbo on the center of the line rather than on the strong side (although this is partially due to the fact that he's further in the book than I am, but still). The rest of my group placed Bilbo on the stronger side because of the evidence mentioned above. 

I think Bilbo will move a little more on the line before the book ends. The dwarves still have to defeat Smaug the dragon and claim the underground kingdom as theirs once again. Bilbo could display more bravery here than ever before, but I don't know if this will actually happen or not. As I said before, Spenser is farther in the book than I am, so maybe Bilbo becomes less helpful in the last four chapters.

Thanks for reading!

Bilbo Baggins Strong or weak?

I rated Bilbo Baggins on the strong side mainly because of what he has been through, he conquered his fear of heights by riding an eagle, he defeated Gollum in a game of riddles or die, he saved his friends and himself from the castle of the elves. I think these things make him strong because it shows how he has progressed as a person since the beginning of the story where he was basically afraid of his own shadow. He also has overcame challenges that many of us "Big People" cannot such as facing his fears head on instead of running away from them.

I did not agree with some of my group members who marked as a weaker character mainly because of how much he has accomplished and what he's been through. I think his actions speak louder than the words he says because he always says how much he wants to go home, however he still perseveres no matter whats being thrown at him.

I think that Bilbo still has some room left for growth which may allow him to progress further up the weak to strong line. I think this because he still acts a little cowardly in the face of danger but he has almost become immune to his fears and I think this will help him reach a higher standpoint in the eyes of all of his readers.

My Advice to Bilbo (Abby B.)

If I had the chance to talk to Bilbo I would ask him why he continues on the journey. Because for starters he has almost been killed multiple times and he keeps talking about his nice, warm home. So, if he is going to continue on the quest he needs to quite whining about it. I mean seriously man up. I understand why he wants to go home ,but if he wants to so bad then leave. What is keeping you from leaving. Because I think this isn't all for gold.

Also, I was wondering about the fact you don't tell the others about the ring. Especially Gandalf. I think it would be a good idea because they might know more about the ring. Also, if someone is in danger they can use the ring to help them. Plus, they might know how to help you control the power or even what other powers the ring holds.

I hope that you think about these questions. Also consider talking to someone about the ring. Even if it is only one person. That is a lot of power for one to hold.

Bilbo Baggins - what I would say (Michael Goetz)

     The scenario wouldn't allow that as a safe option with the spiders, orcs, and the ring which contains the soul of the dark lord himself.  However in the case where a normal conversation was allowed I would tell him to throw the ring away no questions.  Gollum used to be a hobbit until the ring turned him into that thing so that would be a goal.  I would also keep the conversation a secret away from the dwarfs because i would've told Bilbo about how Thorin gets gold fever.  I would then give him a lecture on history about the ring so it can be destroyed much sooner to solve a lot of problems.
     I would then say that 13 dwarfs and a Hobbit can't do that much against a mountion sized dragon so it would be wise to find out how to hurt one and get a small army.

(Tate Tolen) If I had a chance to talk to Bilbo Baggins

        If I had a chance to talk to Bilbo right now at this very moment, I would say that so far he has done well.  Well not at the beginning of the adventure,  at the beginning he was not ready.  He wasn't prepared for something like that.  But since Bilbo got the hang of it (and found the ring) all the dwarfs started to respect him as their burglar.  Though Bilbo is still a little on edge on coming on the adventure with the dwarfs.  So Bilbo just keep going on!

         I am saying this to Bilbo because , not to be rude or anything,  at the beginning he was kind of a wimp.   Now Bilbo is getting more and more ready for beating the dragon.  Plus he will maybe ready for the army.  Bilbo you are very smart looking at how you escaped Golumn in the Goblin caves,  but sometimes you don't think things through like when you were elves you were almost caught like a bunch.  So all i'm saying is be more careful.

        Bilbo it was a good job finding that door,  and it was a great job when sneaking into the dragons liar.  But you still like I said need to be more careful and then when you burgle it will be like your not even there.  Here is some advice when going against the Smuag don't breath very loud because he can hear things from a mile away. And especially don't were anything smelly because he can smell better then he can hear.

What I would say to Bilbo right now (Nic)

What I would say to Bilbo right now is that he needs to hurry up. In the book he and his "crew" just sat in the cave waiting to see if Smaug would return. But there was no mention of him seeing if he was still in the cave. In other words they just sat in a cave for three days doing nothing. Even though they did leave because they were slowly suffocating they found that Smaug was gone, so they would've been fine if they had left in those three days.
Another thing I want to say to Bilbo is become a better planner, meaning he needs to plan ahead. When Bilbo is talking to Smaug he realizes he can't get all the treasure back to where they came from. He also didn't have a plan to defeat Smaug, he takes it into consideration a few times but  never thinks of anything.
The worst part is, he never wants to do anything, he only does things because the dwarves have to rely on him so he's  the only one ever doing anything.
A good thing I would like to say to him is how accepting he is and lucky. Even though the dwarves rely on him for so much he is always willing to do what they can't. Even though i  the book it says how he seems adventurous I think that he's just hiding behind the safety of his ring. Because before he got the ring the dwarves thought him useless, but once he got it he became more willing to do "bold" things, but brings me to the point, what will happen if he loses the ring, will he still be as adventurous or will he go back to the way he was?