8. The Fire Light In The Distance
My favorite part in The Hobbitmaybe in all of Tolkiens worksoccurs early in the book, while the dwarves and Gandalf are discussing the plans for their journey in Bilbos home. Bilbo is distraught at this intrusion into his life, but is also feeling the first stirrings of a desire for adventure. He wanders from the conversation and looks out his window, where he sees a campfire kindled out in the distant woods. This is one of the more evocative parts of The Hobbit. The combination of a comfy (if boring) home life with a hint of adventure is captured in Bilbos ambiguous feelings towards seeing the fire in the distance. The tension in all heroic questsbetween staying in safety or answering the callis seen here, a tension that resonates in most of our lives. And its also a beautiful, if short-lived, image, that would add to the films aesthetic quality. It would be easy to overlook this bit of the book, but adding it to An Unexpected Journey could make a good film into a great one.