Quote 4
"To think it will soon be June," grumbled Bilbo, as he splashed along behind the others in a very muddy track. It was after tea-time; it was pouring with rain, and had been all day; his hood was dripping into his eyes, his cloak was full of water; the pony was tired and stumbled on stones; the others were too grumpy. "And I'm sure the rain has got into the dry clothes and into the food-bags," thought Bilbo. "Bother burgling and everything to do with it! I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!" It was not the last time that he wished that! (2.24)
For much of Bilbo's journey, home seems to exist primarily as an idea to taunt him: he didn't seem truly eager to leave it in the first place, and now all he wants is to be "at home in [his] nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!" Why do you think Bilbo decided to accompany Thorin & Co. on their trip to the Lonely Mountain? Could he have turned them down?
Quote 5
"So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!" said Bilbo, and he turned his back on his adventure. The Tookish part was getting very tired, and the Baggins was daily getting stronger. "I wish now only to be in my own armchair!" he said. (18.54)
Bilbo imagines himself sitting comfortably "in [his] own armchair"; his less adventurous side is finally winning out by the end of the novel. But how has Bilbo's feeling for (or appreciation of) home changed over the course of The Hobbit? Does his hobbit-hole look the same in Chapter 19 as it did in Chapter 1?
Quote 6
"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," said our Mr. Baggins, and stuck one thumb behind his braces, and blew out another even bigger smoke-ring. Then he took out his morning letters, and began to read, pretending to take no more notice of [Gandalf]. He had decided that he was not quite his sort, and wanted him to go away. But the old man did not move. (1.12)
(By the way, it took us a long time to figure out that when Bilbo says "braces," he doesn't mean the ones that go on your teeth. "Braces" is also an Anglo English word for "suspenders," which is what Bilbo actually means here.) So, Bilbo seems completely and totally dead-set against exploration. At what point during the Unexpected Party does Bilbo change his mind?