Wars, poverty, surging crime. Death surrounds us all, like the ending of a Tom Stoppard play. Or Hamlet. And what does the mind of Dr. Sharon Kahn wrestle with these days? Why Bilbo?
Why indeed. The catalyst in "THE HOBBIT" after all--Gandalf sends a crew of one dozen dwarfs over to contract for a burglar. And Bilbo, unbeknownst to him, is to be the said burglar. Why did Gandalf pick Bilbo to be the burglar?
Gandalf found the Shire to be a 5 star vacation resort. But he hadn't taken a vacation for many a decade. By the time he visits Bilbo, he is an unknown legend. Everyone knows of him. The legend outshines the reality. He is no magician. He is just a very shrewd judge of character who knows a thing or two about pyrotechnics. Gandalf was fond of the Old Took and his offspring. But the offspring were unknown characters. By Bilbo's generation, the Took eccentricities were socialized right out of him. He is a pluperfect bourgeous, houseproud hobbit. He has few survival skills for the wild. He gets his meat filletted and degutted from the butcher. He has breakable plates and cups (the Shire apparently has pottery barns). He sleeps in a fine bed at night. He has never left the Shire. He has never married. He apparently has few social connections. He is neither a horsehobbit, an archer, or a warrior. He can, however, throw stones with excellent aim, capable of bringing down a bird or two. A questionable ability, given that he can't gut or fillet his game. He is fussy, foolish, and vain of his one social skill--smoke rings and the blowing thereof. Was he really the best the Shire could offer, even of a Took?
Initially, he turns down Gandalf after offering some hospitality. Apparently, he had no agency in this matter. Gandalf merely placed a sign on his door and left the scene. Enter the dwarves, who run riot in the house and make free. Bilbo is impeccably socialized. He may drop hints, but he doesn't kick them out or make an outward show of hostility. Like Freud's hysterics, he bites his tongue. A good host does not correct the guests, even uninvited ones. He is more passive-aggressive--he oversleeps the next day and almost misses his quest. And thereby shows his quality--conscientiousness, agreeableness, literacy, and a certain adaptability trumps warrior skills.
Literacy you say? What?
Let me explain. Throughout the book, the narrator references binds Bilbo finds himself in. With Gollum, by himself, with Smaug. He has encounters similar situations in books and uses his literacy to pull himself out, successfully. Look at him with Gollum--riddles in the dark indeed. Mostly children's riddle's. But apparently a game with strict rules. Gollum may be an exiled, disgraced hobbit. But even he follows the rule of the riddle game. With Shelob--again, no warrior. He puts on his ring, throws stones, teases Shelob and then sticks her with Sting. Child's play. And with Smaug, again, talking in riddles and using his book-learning to flirt with Smaug and get him to show his soft underbelly. The point of vulnerability. Smaug can huff and puff and blow many houses down. But in his flight to do so, he vigourously exposes his soft underbelly. And meets his doom.
Yes, you can certainly learn a lot from a book. And learning a lot is a suspect skill in the Shire. Bilbo passes down his literacy skills. Remember Samwise, whom he taught to read, "not meaning any harm," as the Gaffer will say. Frodo, Pippen, and Merry likewise were literate. And had senses of humor. Remember the Mcguffin of "The Fellowship of the Ring," where the nonet are stopped outside a cavern entrance seeking the password meant in the words, "Speak friend and enter." Turns out to be the Elvish word for friend. Turns out to be the Elvish equivalent of "1234" as a password. Those elves--little sense of password security.
Again--why Bilbo? Because he can read and apply what he read to appropriate contexts. Because he has a sense of humor. And Gandalf appently grokked this from his memories of the Shire and his sense of the Old Took and his offspring. It would have been better for all concerned if they did let that "silly old hobbit who started it all" to join the Fellowship and end it all. Conscientiousness. Agreeableness, Literacy. And a certain adaptability. All the ringbearers off to Mordor.
And Frodo may have been conscientious. And agreeable. And literate. But in the end, he failed to adapt. He couldn't let it go. And Gollum, the hobbit who really started it all was the hobbit who got to end it all.