Gandalf’s Departure
“’O good-bye and go away!’ grunted the dwarves, all the more angry because they were filled with dismay at losing him. Now began the most dangerous part of their journey.” Page 138, The Hobbit
Just as Bilbo thought that their journey couldn’t possibly get any worse, he was proved wrong. He had avoided dangers such as being stranded on trees as the woods around them burned, then was saved, carried by an eagle, and flown across the sky, holding on for dear life, but what they were about to experience hit them the hardest. Right when they left Beorn’s home, Gandalf had to bid them farewell. Gandalf was the instrumental and guiding force in their journey. He recruited Bilbo and posed this adventure to him in the first place, he showed them the path to get to the treasure. What were Bilbo and company going to do without a leader, the one who they relied on to save them at every danger? What would’ve happened if Gandalf stayed until they reached the treasure?
This past summer, I went through one of the most traumatizing experiences of my life. It was the third day of my second week at camp. This week was completely different from the last, for only one reason: my brother was not there. Having an introverted personality, it was difficult for me to interact with strangers who lived in a completely different environment then me. In the first week I would just stand next to my brother for the hour-long break, not even considering interacting with other people. But as the 2nd week came around, I was alone. After 2 days of staring absentmindedly at the skies and ground, I decided to do something I would have never done if my brother were there. I decided to go play Ultimate Frisbee with seven complete strangers. 20 minutes in I dislocated my knee. Laying down in the middle of the field as the sun shone down on me only increased the pain. I was lying on my side, yet my kneecap was positioned straight, parallel to the ground. I kept my eyes forward, hoping that the ambulance would arrive quickly. The painful 30 minutes and 11 week recovery process has been nothing but informative. If my brother had stayed for the 2nd week, I would not have adventured off to play, I would not have learned valuable life lessons like patience, self discipline and how you can not improve without experiencing pain. But I also may have been spared tremendous pain. How does continuing on without a leader increase your chances to develop?
When Bilbo suddenly realizes who Gandalf is, one of the things he says is, “Not the Gandalf who was responsible for so many quiet lads and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures.” Gandalf has a reputation for sending people off on adventures. He doesn’t accompany them; he only sets them up. In the beginning, the dwarves were stubborn, not being able to trust Gandalf. After he left, they realized Bilbo’s importance, how his ingenuity saved them. In the beginning, Bilbo was someone who disliked change and always relied on other people to make decisions for him. 
ABOVE DRAWING, J.R.R. TOLKIEN
To understand Gandalf’s reasoning for his departure, we have to understand more about the relationship between Bilbo and Gandalf. When Gandalf first showed up at Bilbo’s door with his offer to join a company of dwarves in a quest, he immediately refused. “I should [not] think so – in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them.” Of course the Hobbit who enjoyed the same predictable routine every day of the year would decline, at first. But, after much convincing by Gandalf and company, as well as an early-in-the-day reversal of mood, Bilbo decided to go on the journey he would later regret many times.
The thirteen dwarves, hobbit and wizard (the Company), travel overland towards the Lonely Mountain, encountering trolls, and then goblins, who capture them and take them into the bowels of the Misty Mountains. Bilbo separates from the group under the mountain. When he is on his way to reuniting with the Company, he overhears Gandalf saying, “I brought him, and I don’t bring things that are of no use. Either you help me to look for him, or I go and leave you here to get out of the mess as best you can yourselves. If we can only find him again, you will thank me before all is over.” Gandalf’s secret tone is very interesting, as he never explains why he brought Bilbo along. Bilbo was not just tagging along as a freeloader, but rather is an important asset whom the group will appreciate after Gandalf left. Somehow Gandalf sees that Bilbo will be indispensable to the Company. He isn’t in it for the fortune, but rather to help change the course for Middle Earth.
The first challenge the Company faces, without Gandalf, is the river crossing. Beorn has warned them not to touch the water. Bilbo spots a boat. With many attempts to hook the boat, using their rope, they finally get on it. However, as they slowly haul it over, Bombur falls into the mysterious water. With the dwarves’ quick thinking, they are able to save him just in time, without the wizard’s help.
Letting go of Gandalf is the same as Bilbo and the dwarves stepping into a type of adulthood. No longer having Gandalf as a support system forces them to solve problems, improvise solutions. Gandalf was the teacher who gave them an opportunity to test themselves. If Gandalf gave them all the answers, then they would only be given the satisfaction of a meaningless pass to the next challenge. Instead, Gandalf gave directions, and clues, allowing them to answer their own questions.
If Gandalf had stayed with them, Bilbo would have most likely not taken the Arkenstone, which would result in Thorin becoming devoured by greed. Bilbo would’ve continued to be the non-adventurous hobbit he was in the beginning, the dwarves would continue being selfish and be too blinded by treasure to not be able to see the bigger picture.
As I grow older, my mom has been giving me fewer answers. I frequently encounter technology problems. It is my instinct to immediately seek help from her. Now, 99% of the time I receive the reply: “Figure it out yourself!” When I go back and try to solve it myself, it takes hours. Using troubleshooting techniques, I only become frustrated every time I get the error message. But when I find it working, I experience a rush, a sense of accomplishment, thousands of times greater I would if I sought the answer from somebody else. I now realize that my mom isn’t just too lazy to help, but she is rather, facilitating my growth.
Now I have grown smarter; if I asked for help, my mom couldn’t help me even if she tried. I now have to watch videos to learn things, or sometimes just teach myself.
If Gandalf didn’t leave, I would’ve viewed the story differently. I would think that the only thing Bilbo and everybody else would gain from this adventure was money, but really they learn many things worth much more than money, and the book rises above many others in its character lessons.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo is a an older hobbit. 59 years has passed since he came back from his first adventure. After he mysteriously disappears from his eleventy-first (111st) birthday, he sets off on another adventure back to the mountains. On this adventure, he is traveling all by his lonesome and plans on never returning. Having become more independent since Gandalf first arrived at his door, he is now a thoroughly changed hobbit.
This year, on my first day of high school, I suddenly realized something. When I was on the bus back home, I fell asleep like I did every day last year. But this time, instead of walking up moments before getting off the bus, I woke up to see an empty bus entering an unknown parking lot. Even though my brother was on the bus, he had not bothered to wake me up. At this moment, I felt invisible, almost as if where I was sitting was just an empty seat to everybody else. I learned that I couldn’t depend on others; I learned how to adventure on through life on my own. How did I get home? Ask Gandalf!
