An Examination of the Dwarves? Quest in "The Hobbit"

Paper Summary:

This paper counters the popular conception that author J.R.R. Tolkien is known for his lack of irony in his writings by proving that this particular novel exemplifies irony in its finest form. The basis of this irony consists in Tolkien's depiction of the dwarves' spiritual impurity which becomes apparent upon their pilgrimage. The writer of this paper describes the plot and main characters of Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit." This paper details the areas of the novel in which the text is replete with examples which illustrate the dwarves' repeated failure to rise to the occasion when confronted with the assorted tests, trials and tribulations demanded of all heroic quest seekers.

From the Paper:

"The cyclical nature of the dwarves' crusade reflects, in turn, the circular plot-structure of all Quests, in which an action that is initiated in the concrete present-here, the scheme to conquer Smaug and recover the dwarfish hoard-is brought to fruition in an (often-idealized and mythologized) past. In addition, the grandiosity of the dwarves' mission replicates "the epic spirit and grandeur" of the traditional Quest by pitting the questors against the "forces of greed, cruelty, and aggression" while situating them before the sweeping backdrop of an imagined world-Middle-earth-that is replete with "its own theology, myths, geography, history, paleography, languages, and orders of being."
Unfortunately for the dwarves (and, ultimately, for Middle-earth itself), the impurity of their crusade precludes the manifesting of another seminal convention of the heroic Quest: the social, psychological, and/or spiritual development of the hero(es). Their chronic inability to transcend the limitations of their original personae is illustrated both in the dwarves' childlike inability to defend themselves against the various perils which they encounter as they journey toward the Lonely Mountain and in their nearly-disastrous, initial refusal to share their treasure with the men of Esgaroth."

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