Each year, high school students are tasked with reading a book in its entirety during summer vacation. For many people, myself included, summer reading is considered a requirement and not a privilege. As cliché as it sounds, I've realized what a privilege the summer reading assignment truly is. This may be the only contribution to JRR Tolkien's brilliant writing in The Hobbit. Ever since I was a child, my parents pushed me to read this novel, but with the evolution of technology, I have never been able to read it. But, when I discovered that I could choose to read it as a summer read, I jumped at the opportunity thinking back to all the praise my parents gave it. It took me until just before e-week to read it, but after completing it, I understand why I was so driven to read it first. Now that I've finished reading it, my job is to give a personal review of “The Hobbit”. To do this, I chose a quote from the essay that will help me get my point across: “Everything in this book is true, but not everything is exactly factual.” The first place in the novel where I found recognizable truths was in the first chapter. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The main character of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, was just an ordinary hobbit living an ordinary hobbit life, until one day he was approached by a group of 12 dwarves and the great wizard Gandalf the Grey. Without being invited, they showed up at his door one by one. While at home, they explained to him that he would accompany them on a dangerous journey to steal the treasure from the Lonely Mountain. The treasure was currently protected by Smaug, a brutal dragon known for slaughtering cities and driving dwarves from their home which he now inhabits. Bilbo was lost because he couldn't remember ever putting himself in such a position and had never heard of this plan to attack the Lonely Mountain. He later learned that Gandalf had proposed Bilbo's name as a thief on their journey, even though Bilbo had never left the sanctity of his home village. “Let's not argue anymore. I chose Mr. Baggins and that should be enough for all of you. If I say he is a thief, he will be a thief or will be a thief when the time comes. – Gandalf. Bilbo was introduced without any warning and was essentially forced to become something he wasn't. Bilbo at that time was just like all the other hobbits, very happy with their current situation and scared to death of the unknown around them. The fact that Gandalf proposed forced him into an uncomfortable position and throughout the rest of the novel pushed him to adapt and ultimately become the hero of the story. This happens to most people in everyday life, myself included, we find ourselves in difficult and challenging situations that we don't always feel comfortable in, but we learn to adapt so we can succeed. While I believe the rise of heroism is one of the main themes of The Hobbit, I think greed is something that affects almost every character we encounter, making it another important theme. It all began when Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves began their journey to recover the treasure guarded by Smaug in The Lonely Mountain. If you look at the history of both film and writing, the hunt for “treasure” will almost certainly lead to a character becoming overly greedy. This is best exemplified in The Hobbit when the dwarves finally come into possession of the treasure and armies of men come to challenge them for their gains. One of the armies trying to share the.