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Post by Sparrow on Jul 5, 2004 13:47:49 GMT -6
Faced with the not-too-gradual arrival of Thorin and Company, Bilbo concedes, "I really must sit down for a minute and collect my wits, and have a drink." Is this a good way to handle a crisis? How did it work for Bilbo? Have you ever been in a situation when you thought a having a drink would help you deal with things? What happened?
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Post by Hilary on Jul 5, 2004 17:02:24 GMT -6
The text doesn't make clear whether Bilbo grabbed the tea or the beer...I kind of assumed that he had tea, if only because it was tea-time, and he was still being a proper Hobbit.
My reaction has never been to have a drink to deal with a crisis...too many of my family members (and some friends over the years) always had a glass in hand, be it a major crisis, or social occasion. Seeing how alcohol rarely, if ever, helps a situation, I tend to just abstain.
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Post by Stormrider on Jul 5, 2004 21:08:05 GMT -6
I would not think that Bilbo was having a beer. Hobbits tend to have teas and many other snacktimes throughout the day. I think that eating and having teas were a way for hobbits to sit back, relax, and have a moment of peace.
I think this could be the case with Bilbo. Just the fact of sitting back and relaxing and having his refreshment was what helped him get his wits about him.
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Post by McDLT on Jul 6, 2004 8:01:58 GMT -6
I tend to agree with the others. I think that Bilbo was thinking of tea time. I think what Bilbo was referring to was to sit down and take a minute to collect his thoughts about everything that has happened, in some peace and quiet. I find a cup of tea, hot chocolate, or hot apple cider really helps me, especially after the kids are in bed. Because they are hot drinks you can't just guzzle them down, you have to stop and wait and take little sips. So that gives me lots of time to review the day. Just my thoughts. Good question.
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Post by Greenleaf on Jul 6, 2004 10:35:53 GMT -6
I also think Bilbo was having tea. He doesn't strike me as the type who would drink alcohol in a moment like this. Furhter down in the story, after Thorin's "a journey from which some of us... may never return" had him shrieking and kneeling shaking on the hearh-rug, Bilbo had a drink again to help him collect his wits: "In the meanwhile... [Bilbo] was reviving in the drawing-room. After a while and a drink he crept nervously to the door of the parlour."
Having a drink seems indeed to work for Bilbo. The second time especially, it apparently helped his Tookish side to win over his Baggins side, as we see him change his mind and state he will try to do whatever the Dwarves want from him.
As for myself, I'm not so much the drinking type, be it either alcohol or even water (lol), but I am a smoker, so whenever I'm nervous I usually light a cigarette. Sometimes I think it helps me by giving me the time to collect my thoughts for as long as the cigarette lasts. I think everyone needs something to resort to in hard moments, and each person resorts to the thing that best suits their character.
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Post by Desi Baggins on Jul 6, 2004 12:30:31 GMT -6
Ok, send your boo's and hisses at me now! I have always thought he had a beer! When ever I want to sit down and relax I have a wine cooler (I don't like beer, yuck!). Now if I was in a crisis I would not have any kind of drink, I use paper and lists to make my decision. I think Bilbo needed to relax more than solve a major crisis.
Plus I don't think just having tea would have brought of his Tookish side, tea is more for well mannered Hobbits. I think the beer would have loosened him up and brought out the Tookish adventure loving side!
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Post by Fangorn on Jul 7, 2004 0:20:39 GMT -6
Yes, he had tea and a pipe. But it was the pipe that really relaxed him. After all....it was the 3060's
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Post by Androga Erindalant on Jul 7, 2004 10:26:34 GMT -6
I don't see respectable Hobbits like Bilbo drink away their problems, so I think he was just having tea. You can better orden your thoughts when you're at ease. And besides, beer makes the mind go fuzzy, so not very helpful when you want to "collect your wits." For me, beer is for fun, not for problems. (same goes for any other alcoholic drinks )
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Post by MajahTR on Jul 7, 2004 10:36:49 GMT -6
i believe the drink you would sit down to is mainly just a way to focus...it really doesnt matter as much as to what it is...it is more the process of doing it. (although the poor hobbit deserved a little bit of medication with all the upheaval going on in his home!)
i think of it like a meditation practice? only my drink would be tea or Pepsi!!!
my 2 cents Maj
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Post by Desi Baggins on Jul 7, 2004 18:10:50 GMT -6
Just to be a smarty pants....The chapter is titled Unexpected PARTY. So party = fun = beer! Also some of the dwarves were having beer.
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Post by FIUT on Jul 8, 2004 3:13:57 GMT -6
I agree with Desi.
Given the context -- wherein Gandalf declines tea in favour of wine, Balin takes beer (apparently Dwalin too), then some call for porter and other for a lighter ale -- Bilbo certainly has the opportunity for knocking back something stiffer than Hobbit tea or coffee. Given the fact that Tolkien and the Inklings often met in "The Baby and The Bird" to quaff down mugs of ale, and smoke on an industrial scale, while they were discussing the important works of their imaginations, and reading extracts to one another, I deem it all too likely that JRRT invisioned some "soothingly" loaded beverage as being "just the thing" for a flummoxed Bilbo.
As to whether or not "stimulating" beverages aid or impair the decision making processes, I guess it depends on the individual, and the amount imbibed. In Tolkien's time of writing this tale, 1930s, one still frequently met with "medicinal brandies," carried in small, discrete flasks, and dispensed when required for "steadying the nerves." I'll bet (though the story does not allow us to prove it either way) JRRT thought nothing of giving Mr. Baggins a jolt of "Dutch Courage" in this medicinal manner. But, I don't think the fellow was inebriated, or even mildly incapacitated by his drinks that night, and I would rather see his "precipitous" embracing of the adventure as the triumph of his Tookish ancestry, than a product of his alcohol muddled wits.
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Post by Stormrider on Jul 8, 2004 6:21:09 GMT -6
Desi and Heril are right! The Dwarves were having stronger beverage than tea, so why wouldn't Bilbo have joined them? I just skimmed through Chapter One looking for descriptions of the Dwarves for the art challenge and realized they were not just drinking tea!
I must admit Bilbo was quite fond of "Old Winyards" although I don't believe it is mentioned in The Hobbit and the name is not given until The Fellowship of the Ring.
Considering the important and daunting job that Bilbo was being hired for, he may have needed that beer or wine to calm his nerves and steel himself for the task he was hired to do--not just to gather his wits!
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Post by Stormrider on Jun 26, 2012 17:17:35 GMT -6
Hmmm . . . As the Dwarves were arriving, Bilbo said he needed to sit down, collect his wits, and have a drink. But did he ever find the time to do these things? I bet he didn't until it was time to sit down for dinner. I have to go look at the chapter again now.
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