Themes
Greed and Wealth:
The Dwarves quest for their treasure is what keeps the plot of The Hobbit moving forward . Most of the character's would love to take a share of the dwarves treasure. The quest for treasure changes Thorin the most. At the beginning of the novel Thorin is portrayed as a wise and strong leader but as the quest continues he becomes obsessed with the gold. Thorin becomes angry with Bilbo over the treasure. He also does not want the people of Lake town and the Elves to have any of it. He is greedy and wants to keep the treasure for himself. He is even prepared to fight them in a battle for it. The only person who is not after the treasure is Bilbo, he is not greedy. Again this shows us that Bilbo is the true hero of the novel.
Race and Family:
Many of the characters in the Hobbit come from different races. Elves, Dwarves, Trolls , Goblins and Hobbits all look and act differently. How Tolkien portrays each race effects the storyline for example Elves are good and Goblins are evil while Dwarves lie in the middle. Family is also another important theme in The Hobbit this is shown by Thorin's determination to regain his legacy at any cost. Bard is brave because he is a descendent of the Lords of Dale and Bilbo is adventurous because of his Took family side but he also wants to stay at home because he is a Baggins.
Courage:
One of the major themes in the novel, The Hobbit is courage. Tolkien shows us this by Bilbo's journey through the novel. At the beginning Bilbo is living comfortable life is his hobbit hole until Gandalf takes him on a quest to reclaim the dwarves home. Bilbo is frightened by this idea but his courage grows as the novel goes on. This is shown when he saves the dwarves from Mirkwood, fights spiders , faces Gollum and confronts Smaug in the Lonely mountain. There are other characters who show courage in the novel such as Bard he confronts Thorin, fights in the Battle of the Five Armies and kills Smaug as he is destroying Lake town. Bard has always been courageous but it is Bilbo who shows the most courage.