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Originally Posted by A_Brandybuck
The Dwarves decreased in my reputation at the end of the chapter. This has happened because of two details:
1. They just wanted to steal the ponies, although they had a good time in Beorn's house. They ate and slept there, had some comfort in the wilderness and Beorn lent them the ponies and how does the Dwarves want to thank him? By stealing the ponies......
2. The Dwarves (especially Thorin) get angry because of Gandalf's leaving. I mean, I could understand, that the are not happy, that Gandalf will leave them just before the most dangerous part of their adventure. But they have known this before. Gandalf has gone with them a long time, longer as he wanted to do and the Dwarves surely knew that. And then they get angry,.....
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These points remind me that this is a children's book. The Dwarves are acting more like spoiled brat children while Bilbo by contrast has been showing signs of growing up. Tolkien does this little literary trick to emphasize Bilbo's comparative maturity. It works fine in TH, but you can bet he was more subtle in LotR.