The introduction of the people of Lake Town places humans
in Tolkien’s hierarchy of good and evil races. The human denizens
of Lake Town are quite cautious when it comes to confronting the dragon. When
the company sets off for the mountain, the humans refuse to go near
it, leaving Bilbo and the dwarves to fend for themselves. Though
they are concerned most about themselves, the people of Lake Town
cannot really be blamed for fearing Smaug—they are convinced that
he is invincible. Though Tolkien here emphasizes human fallibility
and fear, he portrays humans as generally good creatures.
With the riddle of the secret door, Tolkien
draws his readers into the story by presenting a confusing puzzle
that we attempt to solve before the characters do. Tolkien employs
this device often—we have already seen it in the riddle game between
Bilbo and Gollum. At the mountain, we have an even greater advantage over
the characters. The company has passed through
many dangers since their last night in Rivendell, where Elrond interpreted the
moon runes on the map for them, explaining that the door could open
only on Durin’s Day, one of the last days of autumn. Except for
Bilbo, they have quite forgotten the message about “when the thrush
knocks. . . .”
We are more likely to have the message fresh in mind,
however, especially since the narrator notes several times in Chapter 11 that “Autumn
was now crawling towards winter.” The difference between the reader’s
knowledge and the characters’ ignorance, a situation of dramatic
irony, adds to the suspense and urgency of the moment Bilbo figures
out the secret of the door. Tolkien builds tension toward the descent
into the mountain and the characters’ confrontation with Smaug by
playing upon our desire for the characters to realize what we already
know.
