Dads Read Too

JER: “ The Hobbit ” by J.R.R. Tolkien was really fun to revisit as an adult, and reconsider the messages as a parent.  I was worried it might be too heavy, or dark for my seven-year-old, Lake, but she loved it, and didn’t absorb any fear of the dark, Trolls, Goblins, Wargs, or Gollum.  My three-year-old, Ejler, had a hard time following it or enjoying it, but wasn’t otherwise affected by it.  What stood out to me most profoundly this reading was the effects of Greed and Tribalism.  I easily saw the increasingly wealthy 1% personified in the dragon Smaug - hoarding wealth to sleep on it.  The Dwarves, the Wood-Elves, and Lake People were only able to look past their Tribalism when they were faced with a sufficiently large and dangerous threat, being overrun by an overwhelming host of Goblins.  Bilbo Baggins was willing to give up his 1/14th share of the treasure to broker peace between the parties, but even giving up the Arkenstone might not have been enough...