Wk. 4 Ch. 6 - The Ring's first influence

[Sparrow]

After Bilbo escaped from the goblin's cave, he had to locate the dwarves before he could rejoin them. Realizing Balin was "looking straight at him without noticing him," Bilbo decided to "give them all a surprise." What did Bilbo do? How would you characterize this behavior? What have been Bilbo's other actions since obtaining the Ring, and how would you characterize them? Those of you who know, please share Gollum's acts immediately after coming into possession of the Ring. How would you characterize Gollum's acts?

[Desi Baggins]

Bilbo has become sneaky and tricksy...yess he hass my preciouss...

[Stormrider]

Since Bilbo had already been invisible when he was facing Balin, he was wise not to take it off in front of him.

Bilbo could hear the Dwarves speaking about him and how they did not want to go back and find him and that he had been more trouble than help. This is one of those moments when being invisible is a handy thing when you can listen in on a conversation concerning yourself that the speakers might not wish you to hear! But is it not always good to hear what people are saying behind your back!

In this instance, I think it helped Bilbo decide not to tell them about his new Ring and how it makes him invisible. I think he needed to show the Dwarves up at this point and prove his worth. He needed to get them to respect him and being able to get away from the Goblins and out of their cave all on his own did raise their opinion of him a great deal.

[Stormrider]

I might ad that Bilbo must have realized that the Ring would come in handy in other "sticky" situations that the troop might find themselves in. Using the Ring in any new situations, would give Bilbo more chances to prove his worth to the Dwarves, and they would not grumble anymore about having to bring him along.

[MajahTR]

i am not really adding anything to this actual discussion except i just had a flash while reading everyone's posts.

maybe the worst influences of the Ring were felt stronger by those who aquired it by evil means...

that would explain why Bilbo was just a bit reluctant to tell the dwarves about it...he only felt a slightly sneaky reason to keep quiet about it...
while Gollum seemd to be sucked into the evil power almost immediately and it made him very awfully sneaky and nasty from the start?

just a wierd thought and not sure i expressed it well?
Maj

[Stormrider]

That is exactly the thought that was creeping into my mind as well! And I think you explained yourself very well!

Smeagol was a Stoor and it was his inquisitive nature to look down and dig in the earth and explore those places. He began to get further and further away from the trees and the sun and finally began to shun them. Not that digging in deep places makes you bad, but it explains why he would seek out the roots of the Mountains as his home after he found the Ring and how he came by his more antisocial and introspective nature (only do what's best for Smeagol).

Bilbo, on the other hand, was a hobbit and they are happy, sociable, love life, food, and drink and I think he had a much better outlook on life than Gollum had. I know he was always trying to escape the Sacksville-Baggins, but that was only one family that he was trying to avoid. He was well known, liked, and respected by everyone else.

So I can see how upbringing, environment, etc. could have affected certain masters of the Ring in different ways and with different urgency levels. The Ring might have some kind of barriers it had to break down on each master before it could really start taking hold. Some masters were easier to penetrate than others.

Good thought Majah!

[Fangorn]

Very good Maj! Frodo had the ring freely given to him, and resisted it most of all. Makes an interesting aside to Galadriel's statement "You offer it to me freely"......

Perhaps she thought that if she did not take the ring by force, her Elven nature would be able to keep from doing evil with it. But triumphantly, her Elven wisdom took charge, and she resisted the temptation.

It is also interesting to note, that ONLY Bilbo gave up the ring volountarily. And after more years of possession than Frodo. Perhaps if Bilbo were younger, he would have made the better Ringbearer!

[Stormrider]

The above comments refer to the newer merged LOTR version of The Hobbit. So without the evil of the One Ring in the 1937 version, how would we answer the questions?

Since he had heard the Dwarves talking about him because he still had the ring on, Bilbo may have been a bit ticked off at the Dwarves for some of the comments they made. Since he was able to sneak up on them and especially past Balin who was the best lookout of the group, I think he wanted to keep the magic ring secret so they could have a higher opinion of him.

Bilbo didn't want to give away a good secret that he hadn't had time to investigate completely himself either. He wanted to continue to have the dwarves think highly of him and who knew when the ring would come in handy for Bilbo again.

[Andorinha]

Good point, Stormrider, if we separate the two versions, Bilbo's secretive nature about the ring tells us more about Bilbo's own personality. In the original, Bilbo is smart enough to see that the ring gives him the edge he needs, now he can really become a first-rate burglar, gain the dwarves' respect, and feel more confident about his role in the company. It also gave him a chance to "tease" the dwarves, and even give a bit of a surprise to old Gandalf.

Suddenly, with the ring, Bilbo has a chance to become a leader, not just a bit of baggage...